Between 1999 and 2016, three temp agency workers died at Fiera Foods or its affiliated plants, including 23-year-old refugee Amina Diaby. After Fiera pleaded guilty to Ministry of Labour charges related to her death in 2017, the ministry launched a series of proactive inspections into the North York industrial bakery and other companies who rely on temp agencies.

The inspections that took place in early 2018 focused on Fiera’s main facility but not its three affiliated factories, according to ministry investigation records obtained by the Star. Fewer than half of the 30 temp agencies that listed Fiera or its affiliates as their client last year were inspected.

The inspections did not include any visits to Upper Crust, one of Fiera’s affiliate factories, where a 52-year-old temp worker died in October — four months after the ministry’s probe wound down.

Ministry of Labour spokesperson Janet Deline said the fatality investigation in response to the October death is ongoing and charges have not been laid.

Upper Crust was not included in the ministry’s inspections of Fiera months before the death, because “affiliated companies did not fall within the scope of the initiative,” Deline said.

Of the three other deaths, one occurred at a Fiera Foods plant on Norelco Dr. — not far from 50 Marmora St., Fiera’s main facility. Also at that address is Marmora Freezing Corporation, where another temp was killed in 2011. In 2016, Diaby died at 50 Marmora St while working as a temp at Fiera Foods.

Deena Ladd of the Toronto-based Workers Action Centre said it was “shocking” the ministry conducted “such a shallow” investigation last year.

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“A proactive inspection is about not just following up on an individual (complaint), it’s actually looking at systematically how the company is operating.”

Fiera Foods was founded by Boris Serebryany and Alex Garber in 1987 after they emigrated from the Soviet Union. Fiera has five other businesses affiliated with it, some sharing an address. They are all officially registered to or run by Serebryany and Garber or family members. In total, there are four plants operating across North York. One is Upper Crust, which is registered to Fiera’s legal counsel David Gelbloom; Serebryany’s daughter is the president.

Fiera has described these companies as its “alliance partners.” According to the WSIB registration records obtained by the Star, many temp agencies are registered to supply workers to both Fiera and multiple “partner” plants.

The minimum-wage temp killed in October was working full-time at Upper Crust. He was found on the ground between a loading dock and a tractor trailer 17 minutes before his shift was due to end, according to the WSIB injury report.

Upper Crust President Carmela Serebryany said the October death was “a reminder that even safe companies must remain vigilant in taking every step possible to protect employees.”

“We have fully co-operated with the Ministry of Transportation and Ministry of Labour as they investigated this incident and will continue to communicate with them as needed,” she said.

Fiera Foods general counsel David Gelbloom said the company “continues to take a comprehensive approach to becoming leaders in workplace health and safety.”

“We have been very clear and consistent in our commitment to treating all workers fairly when it comes to respect, training and recognition, whether they be temporary or permanent.”

The WSIB injury report says that the supervisor on duty at the time of the October death at Upper Crust was Peter Putros. Putros was the same supervisor on shift at Fiera Foods two years earlier when Amina Diaby, a 23-year-old refugee, was strangled by her head scarf while working on an improperly guarded conveyor belt.

Putros and Fiera were charged by the Ministry of Labour in relation to Diaby’s death. The charges against Putros were withdrawn. Fiera pleaded guilty and was fined $300,000 under occupational health and safety laws after admitting the conveyor belt Diaby worked on was not properly guarded.

It’s not clear why Putros moved to Upper Crust’s plant, which is a 15-minute drive from Fiera’s other facilities. His move appears to have happened some time between Fiera’s guilty plea in September 2017 and the October 2018 worker death.

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Fiera Foods refused to answer any questions about Putros, saying they do not discuss “individual HR matters” in the media. They would not say if he received any additional training after Diaby’s death or the October 2018 death, or if he was disciplined by the company in any way after either death.

Putros did not respond to questions that the Star delivered to him in person at Upper Crust.

Ladd said ministry investigations, especially where vulnerable temp agency workers are concerned, need to have enough inspectors assigned, with enough time to complete thorough inspections.

“That is the potential power of a proactive inspection. But we know the way those inspections happen is very surface-level because of the lack of resources and the lack of staff that the Ministry of Labour has to do these inspections,” she said.

“Where you have a repeat violator and where workers have died, that would be a clear indication that you need to put in some resources to put in a thorough inspection. I don’t know how much more evidence they need.”

As part of the ministry’s investigation into Fiera, the company’s main facility at 50 Marmora St., a sprawling complex just off the 401, was inspected 11 times in early 2018, resulting in 24 orders for health and safety violations. The orders were for issues ranging from improper machine guarding to failing to take reasonable precautions to protect a worker. The ministry said the orders have been complied with.

The only other Fiera-affiliated facility inspected by the ministry during its blitz was Marmora Freezing Corporation, which is located in the same building as the main plant.

The Ministry of Labour inspected 11 of the 30 agencies that had so-called clearance certificates from WSIB to supply workers to Fiera and its affiliates, according to inspection records. It issued health and safety orders to six of the agencies, including an order to provide training to workers at three of the agencies.

Gelbloom said Fiera required all temp agencies supplying it with workers to have clearance certificates but that this “did not necessarily indicate” that they were “actively supplying” the company with workers. He said Fiera has developed a code of conduct for temp agencies to “ensure our partners meet the high standards we set.”

He did not respond to a question from the Star asking if he would share the contents of the code of conduct.

He also said the company had “ended relationships with temporary staffing agencies in cases where they do not meet these standards” but did not comment on which relationships had ended.

“Our government was saddened to hear of this incident, and our thoughts are with the family and colleagues of this worker,” Progressive Conservative Labour Minister Laurie Scott said in an emailed statement about the October death. “As Minister of Labour, one of my key commitments is to the health and safety of Ontario workers.”