CNESST criticizes elevator firm, UdeM in report on death

An elevator technician’s death at Université de Montréal could have been prevented if his employers had been more vigilant with their safety precautions, the Commission des normes, de l’équité, de la santé et de la securité du travail (CNESST) concluded in a report released Thursday.

Éric Martel, 27, was killed in February as he conducted weekly maintenance on one of two moving walkways that connect the Université de Montréal métro station with the school’s Roger-Gaudry Pavilion.

According to the report by the Quebec workers’ compensation board, Martel’s arm was caught between the walkway’s belt and cylinder and torn off. Martel was pronounced dead upon arrival in hospital.

The CNESST investigated the circumstances of the fatal accident and announced Thursday that Martel’s employer, Ascenseurs Viau, will be fined anywhere from $16,000 to $65,000. The CNESST said in its report that its inspectors determined that the company — which installed the escalators in 1966 — was not vigilant enough in protecting technicians from potential dangers in the mechanical room at the base of the moving walkways where repairs are conducted.

Two workers had cleared the machinery at the top of the moving walkway before Martel descended alone to the room at the bottom of the escalator, carrying only a flashlight, the report said. CNESST inspectors believe that somehow, while conducting a visual exam of the juncture between the belt and the rotating cylinder — which was still operating at the time — Martel’s left arm was sucked into the machinery, the report added.

Someone should have been stationed in the top room to control the movement of the escalator, while Martel cleared the cylinder of rocks and other debris safely, communicating by radio, the report said. The fact that the area was not well lit, for example, might have put Martel in a precarious position close to the working machinery.

The CNESST also remarked that the lower mechanical room was not equipped with a button to slow or stall the rotation of the escalator, as the upper room had. Martel had no way of slowing the device before approaching it.

In fact, the report states that these potentially dangerous mechanical areas should not even be accessible to workers. Some areas around the escalator machinery were protected by metal barriers, while other areas were not, leaving functioning equipment completely exposed and accessible.

Representatives of the Université de Montréal told the CNESST during its investigation that although they acknowledged the potential danger of their mechanical rooms, no formal procedures are in place to control or prevent accidents while maintenance is conducted in and around these areas, the report noted.

The report concluded that neither Ascenseurs Viau nor the Université de Montréal “identified, controlled or eliminated” the risks posed by these potential “danger zones.”

The 40-page report will be sent to vocational schools and unions that represent elevator technicians to inform them of the risks associated with running equipment while conducting repairs.

Officials at the Université de Montréal and Ascenseurs Viau could not be reached for comment on Thursday.