‘A worker that has been involved in a serious accident involving the rollover of a heavy piece of equipment should never be moved without expert medical assistance’
BRACERIDGE - Proper workplace health and safety procedures weren’t followed before or after a tractor accident injured a Town of Bracebridge employee two weeks ago, a Ministry of Labour investigation has found.
The Aug. 31 accident sent the student employee to hospital with a number of ankle fractures, after the tractor the student was driving went out of control and rolled over, pinning the student’s leg on the Wilson’s Falls Trail, near Wilshier Boulevard. Released on Monday, the ministry’s report said although the injury was initially reported as a sprained ankle by a town representative, it was later found to be much more serious when the student arrived in hospital.
“Witnesses in the emergency room stated that the injured person was in extreme pain and lost consciousness several times while waiting for medical attention,” the report reads. “This information was not shared by the employer’s representative when contacting the Ministry of Labour. Unconsciousness is included in the definition of a critical injury and must be immediately reported to the Ministry of Labour.”
The investigation is still ongoing.
The report said the ministry found a supervisor was not on-site to monitor the injured student and two other student co-workers, who were on the trail spreading gravel and wood chips at the time of the accident.
“The interviewed workers indicated that they did not have radio communication with their supervisor, nor did their supervisor visit them while in the field to ensure their safety,” the report reads. “Supervisory contact reportedly entailed receiving an assignment in the morning from the supervisor and a possible end-of-day informal session at the public works area to report the day’s work.”
The injured student had reportedly received training on operating the tractor from another, more senior summer student. The senior student is reported to have received basic instruction on the tractor from another summer student three years ago.
The report indicates no records of this tractor operation training could be found, and that the training in question had taken place “without supervision or monitoring by the employer.”
Furthermore, the report said the students were not evaluated on how well they could operate tractors by supervisors or other town workers.
In the immediate aftermath of the accident, the report said one of the students contacted their supervisor, who then instructed the students to drive their injured co-worker to South Muskoka Memorial Hospital in their vehicle.
The report also said that after the town learned the student had suffered a critical injury a few hours later, workers were directed to remove the tractor and some of the gravel from the scene.
“A worker that has been involved in a serious accident involving the rollover of a heavy piece of equipment should never be moved without expert medical assistance,” the report reads. “Employees and/or supervisors are requested not to transport injured employees themselves, but are to make appropriate arrangements. The preferred method of transportation, if required, is an ambulance.”
The ministry also found that the certified worker co-chair of the town’s health and safety committee was not allowed to interview witnesses, or to investigate the accident further after learning that a certified management member of the health and safety committee was interviewing witnesses.
Denying a worker member the chance to investigate critical injuries at a workplace, the report said, is a violation of the Occupational Health and Safety Act, which requires an “investigative team” of both management and worker members to conduct critical injury investigations.
In response to its findings, the ministry released a number of orders to the town, requiring it to provide instruction to workers operating tractors, and to establish a program to provide supervision for summer students.
Additional orders require the town to ensure a designated worker member of the joint health and safety committee is given the chance to investigate critical injuries in the workplace, that workplace accident scenes are not disturbed after a critical injury, and that the town immediately notifies a ministry inspector once it learns a critical injury has occurred.
Bracebridge CAO John Sisson said it is “premature” to comment on the details of the report’s findings.
“It’s still under review with the ministry,” he said. “I understand there are additional interviews that the inspector wants to conduct.”
Sisson said questions about the students’ access to radio equipment will be part of the ministry’s review.
“We are taking steps to comply with the ministry’s order at this time,” he said.