Worker killed after loading truck at logging camp
The Commission des normes, de l'équité, de la santé et de la sécurité du travail (CNESST), the organization which administers Quebec’s occupational health and safety plan, has revealed the results of its investigation into the death of trucker Normand Chouinard.
Chouinard, a self-employed truck driver, was killed in a workplace accident on February 8, 2021, in Saint-Adalbert in Chaudière-Appalaches, QC.
On the day of the accident, around 4am, Chouinard arrived in his trailer truck at a logging camp in Saint-Adalbert. He parked his vehicle near a pile of logs along a sloped part of the road so that they could be loaded into the truck. Once the logs had been loaded into the truck, Chouinard left his vehicle to go and pick up a work certificate from the loader machine operator.
While picking up the certificate, the trailer truck started to move and Chouinard tried unsuccessfully to regain control of the vehicle. He was later found crushed under the back left wheel of the truck, at the foot of the slope in a ditch. Emergency services were called and Chouinard was pronounced dead at the scene of the accident.
Following an investigation, the CNESST found two causes to explain the accident. Firstly, the truck started moving and careened down a slope offering little to no grip. The investigation found that the vehicle break’s tire valve was faulty, leading to Chouinard not being able to regain control of the trailer. Secondly, the planning and coordination of the different tasks at the logging site was lacking, notably with regards to loading trucks on sloped roads.
Following the accident, the CNESST suspended all log loading on the section of the road where the accident occurred. It also asked the site manager to establish a safe way to load vehicles on sloped roads so that truckers are able to stay in their vehicles. The site manager complied with all demands.
The CNESST will transmit its report to all relevant industry associations, as well as training establishments for truck drivers.
