Jeff Gray | The Globe and Mail

The death of a subway maintenance worker crushed in a tunnel accident last month was just the latest warning sign that the Toronto Transit Commission has a serious problem on its hands.

The number of TTC workers injured on the job has jumped significantly in the past four years - the agency's rate of 5.8 lost-time injuries per 100 employees in 2006 was higher than the average in the North American urban transit business (of 4.2). Worker-injury claims cost the TTC $9.2-million in 2006, up from $8.5-million in 2002.

The interim chief general manager of the TTC, Gary Webster, concedes the transit agency has a growing problem, but in the wake of last month's crash he said he is serious about fixing the TTC's "safety culture."

Last month's collision, which killed 38-year-old Antonio Almeida, a father of two, was by no means the first alarm bell. In February of 2006, a high-profile carbon-monoxide poisoning incident in a tunnel that made eight workers and four firefighters seriously ill forced the TTC to realize it had a serious problem, demanding an improved worker safety environment, Mr. Webster said.

"We're very good at reacting to accidents and making sure that specific accidents don't happen again," Mr. Webster said in an interview. "... It's like putting your finger in the dike. That hole will never come there again, but it's popping out somewhere else. And why is that?"

Comparing last month's crash to the 1995 Russell Hill subway accident, which killed three passengers and forced the TTC to undergo radical changes to improve passenger safety, Mr. Webster said what he called the "Almeida factor" was now spurring an overhaul of worker safety within the transit agency.

Small changes have already been made. While the early-morning collision is still under investigation, the working theory is that a scaffold-like piece of equipment, perhaps stowed improperly on a flatbed work car, snagged a cable on the subway-tunnel wall as Mr. Almeida drove the train in.

In the days after the crash, Mr. Webster said, the TTC ordered all other overnight maintenance crews using similar work cars to follow a detailed checklist procedure - already in place when work cars go out - when finishing up. Signed checklists stating that all equipment was properly secured before pulling away from the work site are now required to be submitted the next morning, he said.

The heightened vigilance about safety among the work crews that descend into the TTC's dark subway tunnels was clear, too, Mr. Webster said.

At least two maintenance crews refused to work right after the crash, citing unsafe conditions - as is their right under Ontario's labour laws.

In one case, a crew determined they did not have enough of the special slings used to secure equipment.In fact, the TTC boss recently issued an internal memo to all 10,000 employees, reminding them of their right to refuse work they believe to be unsafe.

Bob Kinnear, president of Local 113 of the Amalgamated Transit Union, said he supported management's recent moves and pledged to work with TTC leaders to improve safety.

Next month, TTC officials will present the transit agency's nine-member commission made up of city councilors with a report on safety initiatives that has been in the works since the carbon-monoxide incident. The report will also address concerns raised by the crash that killed Mr. Almeida.

The TTC has also drafted a plan to hire an external company to assist in a total overhaul of the TTC's safety programs, and in Mr. Webster's words, "hold our feet to the fire."

Among the companies expected to bid is global giant DuPont, which has a division that specializes in safety.