Laval gas station fined, ordered to upgrade safety following snowplow fatality

A Shell service station in Laval has been ordered to better protect its employees during snow-clearing operations and faces a fine of up to $67,000 after one of its workers was struck and killed by a snow plow last November, Quebec’s work health and safety board (CNESST) announced on Thursday.

Edith De Repentigny, 62, died in the Nov. 28 accident, during which she was struck as the front-loader backed up while clearing the gas station’s parking lot.

An investigation by the Commission des normes, de l’équité, de la santé et de la sécurité du travail found that De Repentigny was in one of the service station’s access ways, throwing her cigarette butt into a nearby sewer, when the vehicle backed up and struck her, crushing her with its wheels.

She was declared dead at the scene.

Investigators concluded that even though the snow removal was being carried out by a contractor, it fell to the service station to prevent situations that could see its employees placed in harm’s way during snow-removal operations.

The CNESST ordered the proprietors of the station to establish and enforce protocols that will ensure employees are aware of snow-removal operations and remain out of the way while they are being carried out. It also ordered the snow-removal company to improve its drivers’ training.

The report notes that both companies have complied with the order.

The CNESST also noted that employers are legally obliged to keep their workplaces safe, and said it had cited the service station in connection with the accident, an offence that carries a fine that can vary from $16,793 to $67,176 for a first offence and as such as $335,882 for any subsequent infraction.