The Quebec Commission for Occupational Health and Safety has linked the death of a Ferris wheel employee in the Old Port of Montreal on Christmas Day 2021 to deficiencies in safety skills.
The Commission for Standards, Equity, Health and Safety and Work (CNESST) report, published Thursday, recalled that 22-year-old Riley Valcin died after being trapped in machinery that rotated the large structure of 60 meters high.
Mr. Valcin then removed the snow by hand from the Ferris wheel drive wheels on their rotation. However, CNESST insists that the place where Mr. Valcin was killed should never be visited by workers.
Inspector Judy Major also found that the workers were not properly trained and brought in to improvise a dangerous way of cleaning Ferris wheel driving wheels.
Inspection reports published by CNESST indicate that the Ferris wheel safety inspection log has not been completed since March 10, 2021.
Following the accident, CNESST banned access to elevated machine platforms until protection measures making it possible to make inaccessible hazardous zones were installed and safe procedures were in place. access was built to eliminate risks, the commission said.
The employer was able to resume its activities after the required corrective measures were implemented, CNESST added.
The owner of the tourist attraction La Grande Roue de Montréal said in a statement on Thursday that it has fully cooperated with CNESST and that all the major corrections requested have been implemented.
In an effort to raise its standards, La Grande Roue has taken steps to go beyond CNESST recommendations, particularly by improving the training of candidates for the operator position, which is now more demanding than during the accidentwe assure you.
The owners of the Ferris wheel lease space in the Old Port of Montreal on land owned by the Canada Lands Company, a federal Crown corporation.
The Canadian Press
Source: Radio-Canada
