MONTREAL — The fatal collision between a gondola and a drill that occurred in Mont-Tremblant in the Laurentians in July happened in part because procedures for moving the machines around the site were incomplete, a CNESST inspector has concluded Ending.

An Ontario soldier, Sergeant Sheldon Johnson, 50, died in the collision, while a woman in her 50s was seriously injured July 16 after being thrown from the gondola and hit by the mast of a drill.

About a week later, an inspector from the Commission for Standards, Equity, Health and Safety at Work (CNESST) banned construction equipment from being transported to the site, saying the risk was too high. Another collision occurs.

This information comes from intervention reports obtained by The Canadian Press following an access to information request.

“The information obtained during the investigation shows that the conditions that led to the accident during the movement of the drill are still present on the site,” Inspector Jean-Philippe Gaudreault wrote in his July 28 report, detailing his inspection carried out four days earlier.

In a preliminary report completed on site on July 24, Mr. Gaudreault stressed that “there is no complete written procedure for the transportation of construction equipment to the Mont-Tremblant station site.”

The inspector said that the – incomplete – procedure was not known to everyone involved on the construction site.

Mr. Gaudreault therefore decided on July 24 that the station should first develop a clear procedure and ensure that it is properly communicated to the various contractors so that workers can move machines around the site again.

He also called on the station operator to “ensure control of all access points to the mountain” and to ensure that the barriers cannot be “bypassed” by machines on the site.

The drilling rig involved in the collision was being used as part of a project to replace an artificial snowmaking system on one of the ski slopes.

The Mont-Tremblant broadcaster did not respond to a request for reaction from La Presse Canadienne on Thursday.

Damaged drill

The CNESST finally allowed machine traffic to resume on the site on August 4 after receiving an updated directive from the station.

Inspector Claude Langlois noted in his report that the Mont-Tremblant station had taken measures to ensure that workers were informed of the new directive, stressing that, among other things, it “defines specific measures to be taken at the intersections of Paths with ski slopes are to be taken”. Elevators.

The updated policy prohibits the movement of non-standard vehicles on weekends and public holidays. The fatal collision occurred on a Sunday.

The inspection reports also show that the drill’s windshield, owned by M2P Forage, had cracks at the time of the collision “which may have impaired the operator’s visibility while driving.”

Additionally, the drill’s horn did not work, so “the drill could not be heard by a worker while in motion.”

Forage M2P also did not respond to a request for comment on Thursday.