Worker electrocuted after main switch not padlocked: Quebec workers’ safety board

The logo for the Commission des Normes de l'equite de la Sante et de la Securite au Travail, known as the CNESST, which is in charge of worker safety, is seen in Laval, Que., Thursday, Feb. 22, 2024. (Ryan Remiorz / The Canadian Press)

The death of a worker electrocuted at a wastewater pumping station in Saint-Pamphile, in the Chaudière-Appalaches region, can be explained in part by the fact that the main switch of the electrical installation on which he was working had not been padlocked before the work was carried out.

The Commission des normes, de l'équité, de la santé et de la sécurité du travail (CNESST) has identified this as one of the three causes of the electrician’s death, who was working with a colleague on an electrical installation at the pumping station on June 3.

In occupational health and safety, lockout is a set of procedures for neutralizing all the energy in a machine before a worker goes to work on it.

Another cause of death was the fact that the worker, while trying to straighten three electrical wires on a device, had touched the copper part of two wires, thereby suffering a 600-volt electric shock.

In the third case, CNESST found that the project manager did not ensure that the electrical work was carried out using an energy control method.

It is not enough for the employer to have provided the appropriate equipment and given instructions to the employees, on the assumption that they would follow them, notes the CNESST in its report.

Nor can the employer rely solely on a worker’s experience as a guarantee that the tasks entrusted to him will be performed safely.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published in French on Jan. 21, 2025.