The young worker who died stuck at the Grande Roue de Montréal had to manually clear the snow from the driving wheels during their rotation; a working method deemed dangerous and improvised, says the CNESST in its investigation report.
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The 22-year-old who died in a work accident on Christmas Day at the Montreal Ferris Wheel was named Riley Valcin.
He was clearing snow from the tourist attraction of the Old Port when the tragedy occurred. He had access to a dangerous part of the attraction, which the CNESST deplores.
Montreal | INVESTIGATION REPORT: Conclusions on the work accident that cost the life of an employee at La Grande Roue de Montréal inc. He was dragged in and got stuck fatally in the danger zone of the ride. ????https://t.co/fI6nVI38bk pic.twitter.com/1xDnJX600r
— CNESST (@CNESST) June 9, 2022
“As the snowfall was starting to get heavier, a colleague from another department asked him to manually clear the snow from the driving wheels of the Ferris wheel as they rotated. To do this, and following having received instructions from this colleague, Mr. Valcin headed for the raised platforms of the engines by crossing the gate that remained open, which is normally used to delimit the restricted access zone of the Ferris wheel. While he was near the re-entrant angle formed by the lower drive wheel and the transmission plate of the large wheel, the worker was dragged into it and got stuck there,” explains the CNESST in its report. .
The emergency services transported the young man to a hospital center where he finally died.
More details will follow.