The project manager on site when four construction crew members fell to their deaths on Christmas Eve in 2009 ignored safety concerns, was trying to rush the job, and may have had a financial incentive, the Crown argued in the first day of a criminal negligence trial.

Vadim Kazenelson has been charged with four counts of criminal negligence causing death and one count of criminal negligence causing bodily harm. The judge-only trial opened Thursday.

Holding individuals who direct workers criminally responsible for harm on the job is a provision added to the Criminal Code in 2004 and can result in jail time.

Defence lawyer Lou Strezos chose not to give an opening statement.

Kazenelson was employed by Metron Construction Ltd., a company that had a contract to repair balconies on two adjacent buildings — 2737 and 2757 Kipling Ave.

On Dec. 24, 2009, a swing stage holding six workers snapped in half while on the thirteenth floor of 2757 Kipling Ave. Four employees died. Dilshod Marupov, then 22, who was partially secured by one of two lifelines, suffered severe injuries. Another, secured by the other lifeline, survived with no injuries.

The swing stage usually transported two workers at a time. Each worker on a swing stage should be attached to a lifeline, which is secured to the building independently from the swing stage itself in case of such an accident, said Crown attorney Elizabeth Moore in her opening statement.

Kazenelson was the seventh person to get on the swing stage, said Moore. But once the swing stage collapsed, one of the survivors said he saw Kazenelson on a balcony and wasn’t sure how he got there, according to Moore.

She said that there were a number of “red flags” Kazenelson should have noticed had he been inspecting the swing stage properly.

“In light of these red flags, the swing stage should not have been used,” said Moore.

Those included no sticker on the swing stage stating the load capacity, no manual for that particular model to ensure it was assembled and operated correctly, and structural defects including cracked welds and distorted bolt holes, she said.

Moore added allowing workers on the swing stage that day wasn’t a momentary lapse in judgment but “part of pattern of unsafe and inadequate practices.” That pattern included knowledge that some workers were under the influence of drugs on the job, not following training Kazenelson was given on safe swing-stage operation and not ensuring all workers were properly trained for it, said Moore.

She argued events leading up to that day also contributed to unsafe conditions — the project was behind schedule and there was a $50,000 bonus to complete the project by the end of December. “Mr. Kazenelson could have expected to share in that bonus,” said Moore, explaining that he was promised 25 per cent of money made from the contract.

Metron Construction pleaded guilty to criminal negligence causing death in 2012 and was ordered to pay a $750,000 fine — the highest fine in Canadian history for criminal corporate liability. Metron owner Joel Swartz was ordered to pay $112,500 after pleading guilty to four violations of the Occupational Health and Safety Act.

The company that manufactured the swing stage, Ottawa-based Swing N Scaff Inc., was fined $350,000 and Patrick Deschamps, one of the company’s directors, was fined $50,000.

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The victims wereAlesandrs Bondarevs, 25, Aleksey Blumberg, 33, Vladamir Korostin, 40, and site supervisor Fayzullo Fazilov, 31.