Increase in Construction Accidents Involving Cranes
Reinstate Compulsory Vocational Training for Crane Operators Now!
Demonstration by crane operators in Montreal, May 5, 2018, demanding
mandatory Diploma of Vocational Studies training requirements for Crane
operators by reinstated.
Quebec crane operators report that accidents involving
the operation of cranes are on the rise in Quebec. Since September 2019
there have been 10 reported accidents, and, according to the Crane
Operators' Union, seven of them involved operators who have not
completed the 870-hour Diploma of Vocational Studies (DEP) or
equivalent
training through credential recognition (recognition of prior learning
and competencies that reduce the number of hours of vocational training
required). The most recent accident occurred in June in l'Assomption,
where a heavy equipment operator, without crane operator training,
dropped a load on three workers while operating a boom truck on
the Highway 341 bridge construction site. The three workers were
injured, one of them seriously.
Many of these accidents involve boom
trucks with a maximum capacity of 30 tonnes, which are small cranes
used for transporting materials and equipment, and are the cranes that
overturn the most easily. Yet it is for the operation of these cranes
that
the
government and the Quebec Construction Commission introduced a course
of only 80 hours, replacing the 870 hours of vocational training. We
are seeing the results today.
 The
government and the CCQ put forward the most unprincipled, pragmatic
arguments, suggesting that it is not necessary to be a qualified crane
operator to operate boom trucks, and that the union is just trying to
maintain its monopoly and control over the trade for selfish reasons by
requiring mandatory and appropriate vocational training for
crane operators. It is the government and the CCQ that are driven by
the goal of serving narrow private profit at the expense
of the safety of workers and the public. The crane operators are
defending the safety of all.
The mandatory Diploma of Vocational
Studies was introduced in 1997 precisely to reduce deaths and accidents
involving crane operation. Fatalities have been reduced by 66 per cent
since its introduction. The situation now seems to be returning to what existed before
the DEP in terms of dangers and the construction workers are stepping
up their fight against these regressive measures and this refusal by
the authorities to take up their social responsibility.
In an interview with Workers' Forum, the
director of the Crane Operators' Union, Evans Dupuis, said that if the
situation continues, deaths will occur because of the lowering of crane
operator training. This is in the construction sector, which already
has the highest number of deaths yearly of all sectors of the Quebec economy.
"The Minister of Labour must intervene to review the
regulations governing the crane operator trade and boom truck
activity," he said. "We see what happens when the boom truck is driven
by people who do not have the skills to do so. We're told that it's not
really dangerous to operate a boom truck, that it's just a small crane,
but at
l'Assomption we came very close to killing someone with a 30-ton boom
truck. In addition, we are seeing more and more major accidents with
cranes overturned and people injured. We've had 10 accidents in nine months.
Usually, we have three or four accidents a year. All this is directly related
to the lowering of the training of crane operators."
Evans also spoke about Bill 61, the bill on restarting the economy that the government tabled at the beginning
of June, and its impact on the health and safety of workers and the
public.
"Bill 61 would give the government the power to change
anything and provide itself with immunity in the name of economic
recovery. The government wants to give itself full powers to change
anything it wants without consulting and without following its own laws
and regulations. In the name of filling labour shortages, it wants to
allow
people to work without training, which will put everyone at risk. They
want to make decisions on their own without listening to anyone. This
will have a major impact on the health and safety of workers."
Workers' Forum joins all workers in demanding that the government immediately reinstate mandatory vocational training for crane operators.
This article was published in
Number 47 - July 7, 2020
Article Link:
Increase in Construction Accidents Involving Cranes: Reinstate Compulsory Vocational Training for Crane Operators Now!
Website: www.cpcml.ca
Email: editor@cpcml.ca
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