Quebec health and safety board reveals cause of accident
Quebec’s health and safety regulatory board has today revealed more about an accident which cost a worker’s life on Feb. 11, 2021, in Saint-Basile, QC.
The Commission des normes, de l'équité, de la santé et de la sécurité du travail (CNESST) says that the driver, who was employed by waste management firm Eddy Fugère inc., was working on a Ciment Québec inc. (cement group) site at the time.
On the day of the accident, the worker was driving a truck trailer filled with dry materials to a Ciment Québec inc. site. He was then supposed to unload the truck.
Once the driver arrived at the site in Saint-Basile, he parked the truck next to a conveyor belt and activated the truck’s movable floor to ensure that the dry materials would fall onto the conveyor.
While the truck was unloading, the worker went into the vehicle cab and hit a button to stop the movable floor – but also ended up deactivating the parking brake. He then exited the cab, but while he was on the truck it started to move and the worker was thrown and fell off the vehicle. He then got caught under the wheels and was run over.
A Ciment Québec supervisor noticed that the truck was moving and went to the scene, there he discovered the worker lying on the floor. The supervisor called emergency services and the worker was taken to hospital where he was pronounced dead.
Following an investigation, CNESST revealed that the unexpected movement of the truck is what caused the fatal accident – both being thrown off and crushed by the truck.
Immediately after the accident, the CNESST ordered that both companies cease dry material unloading activities done with the help of trucks. The CNESST then required that a new work procedure be put in place to control unexpected vehicle movements during unloading, and that these plans be shared with workers. Both firms complied with the orders.
The CNESST will share the results of the investigation with various trucking safety organizations in Quebec, and will also share the investigation report with training centres devoted to truck driving to inform future workers.
