Building inspectors may know all about whether structures are being built according to code, but a case in Toronto shows that they might not be adequately trained to protect their own safety.

The City of Toronto has been fined $175,000, plus a 25 percent victim fine surcharge, for failing to provide a building inspector with training on unguarded and uncovered floor openings. While inspecting plumbing on a partially built home, a building inspector who had been on the job for only three weeks plummeted 2.7 meters (almost nine feet) through an uncovered portion of a main floor stairway onto a concrete basement floor and suffered fatal head injuries.

D/C Contracting Ltd. was earlier fined $100,000 plus a 25 percent victim fine surcharge for failing to ensure that a guardrail or protective covering was in place over the stairway opening.