Workplace Health and Safety Board release AFT accident report

The CNESST, Quebec’s workplace health and safety board, has released its report on the investigation into an accident that killed a worker at AFT Technologies in Lennoxville this past spring. The report places blame for the deadly accident on both a carelessly positioned gate and worker error.

On the morning of April 18, Christian Mercier, 56, was crushed between an open loading dock gate and the steering wheel of his forklift after the gate entered the cabin of the vehicle while the driver was trying to turn around.

The CNESST report cites two main factors in causing the accident: the gate that had been left open and the driver who backed into the gate. This combination of factors and circumstances created “a deadly wedge zone for the worker,” the report says.

AFT responded to the report by means of a written statement shortly after its release.

"We’ve presented the CNESST a new configuration for the loading dock and the gate, which we are in the process of changing now,” said AFT Human Resources Manager Jani Morin in the statement. “And, though there was no mechanical defect or non-compliance involved this accident, we have replaced the forklift used at this station."

The company statement also repeats sympathies to the family, friends, and coworkers of Mercier, stating that the release of the report brings back difficult feelings from the spring.