After truck driver pinned and killed at landfill site, CNESST releases report

The Quebec workers' safety board (CNESST) is requiring a company to come up with a safe work plan after a truck driver was killed at a landfill site. (Groupe CNW/Commission des normes, de l'équité, de la santé et de la sécurité du travail) (Hand-out/Commission des normes, de l'équi)

After a truck driver was pinned between his container truck and a landfill waste compactor and killed, the Quebec workers’ safety board (CNESST) is requiring the company to implement a safe work procedure for unloading work.

On July 3, a truck driver was at a landfill site in Brome-Missiquoi when he parked his truck to unload waste, a CNESST report says.

“He then went to the cleaning area to remove the residue from the container and close the container door. At the same time, the operator of the landfill’s waste compactor backed up his vehicle and the truck driver was trapped between the rear bumper of the waste compactor and the rear of the truck,” the report continues.

The truck driver was transported to the hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

CNESST concluded that the coordination between the vehicles and pedestrians “was poorly managed,” and exposed the driver to the “danger of collisions.”

As a result, CNESST prohibited the worker’s employer, Fournisseurs d’acier et de métal du Richelieu inc., from unloading at landfill sites, and required the company to develop and implement a plan when unloading waste.

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In addition, CNESST prohibited the landfill site - Régie intermunicipale de gestion des matières résiduelles de Brome-Missisquoi (RIGMRBM) – from doing dumping and compaction work at the same location and also required RIGMRBM to develop a safe work procedure for pedestrians and heavy trucks during dumping.

“Both employers complied with these requirements,” CNESST said.

CNESST gave the following instructions to prevent similar accidents:

• Safely organise and plan coactivity between pedestrians and heavy machinery during waste dumping;
• Establish and respect safety distances between activities and between vehicles;
• Define zones to limit coactivity between vehicles and pedestrians in order to protect them from the danger of being hit;
• Develop and apply a safe working procedure setting out the steps to be followed when unloading waste at a landfill site;
• Raise awareness among all users of the risks of coactivity between pedestrians and vehicles.