Agricultural accident last summer in Bas-Saint-Laurent | The weight of the load and the equipment involved

If the machinery driven by the worker of a dairy farm tipped over in the manure pit of the establishment, it is because of the weight of the load and the use of an inclined access ramp, concludes a investigation report of the Commission for Standards, Equity, Health and Safety at Work (CNESST) published on Wednesday.

The accident occurred on August 8, around 4:30 p.m., at Ferme Hector Claveau et Fils, a dairy farm located in Les Heights, about forty kilometers from Rimouski, in Bas-Saint-Laurent.

The agricultural worker employed by the farm, whose identity is kept confidential by the CNESST, transported manure from a barn to the pit located not far away, with a vehicle (a loader) equipped with a bucket. Not seeing him come back, the man working with him approached the pit and saw “bubbles were forming[aient] on the surface of the manure,” says the CNESST report.

911 was called at 4:41 p.m., and the death was pronounced the next day in the early morning, when the loader, “with the worker on board”, was pulled out of the pit.

Two causes, related to the equipment and the route taken, explain this accident, estimates the CNESST.

The loader was equipped with an “unknown brand” bucket, larger than the standard bucket provided by the vehicle manufacturer, and was carrying some 550 kg of manure. This weight caused “the loader to tip over when the worker [a manœuvré] to unload the manure”, established the CNESST from theoretical calculations.

In addition, the manure was usually poured into the pit from the ground, between two of the inclined access ramps which were used instead when pumping the pit. “For a reason that remains unknown, the worker took access ramp number 1. Once at the top, [il] tries to dump his load over the barriers, his bucket being then above the void. At this location, the barriers in place do not offer sufficient resistance to prevent the loader from falling into the pit,” summarizes the investigation report.

The employer owns two other farms, cattle and pork. Dairy farm manure is usually moved with a fork with grapples, not the bucket, an attachment normally found on the beef farm, the report said. This bucket, which “was exceptionally present at the dairy farm on the day of the accident”, was installed on the vehicle just before performing the task.

The CNESST prohibited the employer from using the bucket in question, and from using the ramps to unload manure.

The coroner’s investigation is still ongoing.