Temporary foreign workers had no training, safety equipment before fatal workplace accident in Montreal: report

Condition of load-bearing walls demolished following the collapse on Sept. 23, 2023. (Source: CNESST)

A temporary foreign worker did not have any personal protective equipment and had no training, experience or qualifications to work in construction when he was killed by a collapsed wall at a construction site in Montreal in 2023, a workplace safety board report has found.

The worker was fatally crushed when part of the ground floor collapsed on him and two other workers, as a load-bearing wall was being demolished in a three-storey commercial/residential building.

The building, at the intersection of Rolland Boulevard and Pascal Street in Montreal North, was being renovated at the time of the accident on Sept. 23, 2023.

The other two workers, who are also immigrants, were injured in their upper and lower bodies but survived.

Quebec’s workplace health and safety board, the Commission des normes, de l’équité, de la santé et de la sécurité du travail (CNESST), investigated the incident and found that there were several deficiencies in the planning of renovation work.

“None of the workers had the necessary qualifications to perform work on a construction site. They also did not have general health and safety training for construction sites, even though this training is mandatory for anyone working on a construction site,” according to the report, which was published on Thursday.

The board added: “The planning of the demolition work on the basement walls was deficient and exposed the workers to a risk of being crushed by the collapse of the concrete slab of the ground floor located above the work area.”

According to the report, the building sustained damage in a fire in May 2022. The owner, Chola Empire, awarded a contract to STS Construction & Renovation to reconstruct the second and third floors.

During the project, the property owner also mandated someone only identified as “Mr. A” who “offers various services, including metal recovery and cleaning for clients, in exchange for remuneration,” to remove the basement ceiling ducts and clean up the debris. The unnamed individual hired the five workers to carry out the work on his behalf.

However, they all lacked specific construction skills or training in the field when they showed up for their first day of work on Sept. 23, 2023, according to the CNESST.

The building owner could not be reached for comment on Friday.

Two of the three workers injured, including the one who was killed, did not speak English or French, the report said. None of the five workers who were recruited were given gloves, goggles or safety helmets to do their work, and most of them did not wear safety boots. None of them took the general health and safety on construction site course, as required by law, and they had no prior training or experience in demolition work.

“The occurrence of the accident shows that neither the project manager nor Mr. A, nor the workers suspected that the walls they were demolishing in the basement were load-bearing walls supporting the ground floor. They were unfamiliar with this type of construction. None of the workers had the necessary qualifications to perform work on a construction site,” the CNESST said.

“The lack of work organization and safe method planning, in addition to the lack of adequate information, training and supervision of the workers present on the site at the time of the accident, exposed the workers to hazards during the demolition of the building structure.”

To prevent similar accidents from happening again, the CNESST said it would share the findings of its report with various industry organizations, including the Association de la construction du Québec, the Association des professionnels de la construction et de l’habitation du Québec, the Association patronale des entreprises en construction du Québec and the Association des entrepreneurs en construction du Québec.

The consulates of Mexico, Guatemala and Honduras would also be notified.