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AC faces seatbelt, vehicle defect charges after death of Toronto baggage handler


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Air Canada faces seatbelt, vehicle defect charges after death of Toronto baggage handler

Airline cited for 'failures' in tarmac death after investigators ordered seatbelts, inspections of carts

Wed Apr 25, 2018 - CBC News
by Dave Seglins, Chelsea Gomez

Air Canada has been charged with a string of offences in the death of an employee killed at Toronto's Pearson International Airport after the baggage-handling tractor he was driving flipped over, ejecting him onto the tarmac.

Federal officials allege five health and safety violations by the airline "contributed" to the death of Ian Henrey Pervez, who was killed while working a night shift on April 22, 2016.

"What's done is done," the 24-year-old's father, Pervez Pervez, told CBC News.

He said the family is still processing the charges against Air Canada and is anxious to see the final outcome.

Following Pervez's death, some airport workers held vigils and demonstrations denouncing the safety and working conditions at the airport, complaining of poor maintenance of Air Canada's ground equipment.

On April 11, investigators found the airline to be in violation of five provisions of the Canada Labour Code:

  •     Failure to ensure that the health and safety at work of Pervez was protected.
  •     Failure to remove from service defective vehicles that present a health and safety hazard to employees operating them.
  •     Failure to install seatbelts or similar restraining devices.
  •     Failure to provide training to employees to ensure they are able to identify defects in vehicles.
  •     Failure to take adequate preventative measures to address the hazards of operating baggage-cart tractors.

'If convicted, officials at Air Canada face maximum penalties of up $1 million or a prison term of two years,'

.

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28 minutes ago, DEFCON said:

This is a bit like SMS, ; lots of finger pointing 'after the fact'.

The union seems to have lots to say now, but where were they before disaster struck?    

Do ramp tractors have seat belts?  Never saw them being used if they do. It does however appear that AC took action 

https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/2993114-Air-Canada-internal-memo-June-8-2016.html

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2 hours ago, boestar said:

all of them do now.  they never did 30 years ago.

 

Watching from a window as I sometimes do when waiting at the airport, if they have them, it doesn't seem that they are being used. 

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Air Canada has been forced to install the seatbelts even though they are fantastically impractical on a non-road use vehicle, will rarely be used and are not wanted by the workers using the equipment.  Standby for the next incident/accident where AC will be charged for not ensuring that the workers are actually using the seatbelts.

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It’s the responsibility of the Airside Safety Officers to enforce usage.  They rarely do, and it’s difficult to change behaviour.  How many years did it take to convince the public to wear seatbelts, and some STILL refuse.

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Reminds me of the introduction of the "hunting vest" to the Flight Deck.  After a thousand Walkarounds with no issue, the first one with the orange vest on I came close to being a bug splat on a ramp vehicle.

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How many ram p manhours are worked before an incident like this occurs?  I suspect that fatal injuries airside that happen due to lack of seatbelt use is a VERY low number compared to the manhours worked airside.

There needs to be an answer for the accident to "solve" the issue.  It has been answered by adding seatbelts.  Whether they get used or not is another question altogether.

Usually these responses to an accident are the quickest and easiest answers to the accident itself not the overall problem (if there even is one).

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When I worked on the ramp it was the company who were enforcing the rules for personal protective equipment. 

Ramp supervisors had to be on the repeat offfender so that a paper trail existed. Then in the event of an accident or claim the company could pull out a file and say they were always telling employee X to follow the rules. 

If you want to protect someone from tipping over a baggage tractor you better get them crash helmets and arm tethers too. 

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The company has to perform its due dilligence in enforcing the safety rules, if it doesn't then the company is ultimately at fault.  if the company keeps telling employee X to work safe and provides the necessary equipment to do so then the employee is ultimately responsible for the outcome.

Hence all vehicles have seatbelts.  There is a speed limit, PPE is provided.  The supervisor keeps telling guys to work safely (repeatedly).  Etc  This limits the liability of the company should anything happen.

Agree with AAS.  The open tugs are a danger unto themselves.  I once watched a guy get clocked right off of a tug by the VHF antenna on a 767.  

 

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20 minutes ago, boestar said:

 

Agree with AAS.  The open tugs are a danger unto themselves.  I once watched a guy get clocked right off of a tug by the VHF antenna on a 767.  

 

Again a classic example of "Driver Error" not equipment failure or lack of protection. 

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"I once watched a guy get clocked right off of a tug by the VHF antenna on a 767."  

Not to be insensitive, but the picture I see is reminiscent of the guy in a raincoat that used to ride a small tricycle around in skits on the old 'Laugh In' show.

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Does anybody here know for sure if it is legal to install seat belts on a tractor with no roll protection ? I don't think it is. At any rate, are these seat belts they installed, approved by the original manufacturer ?

Seat belts on a vehicle with no engineered safe space are extremely dangerous. Think about quads , boats and lawn tractors to name a few. All of the machines with seat belts have a roll cage etc.

 Someone should go out there and tag every one of those tractors as unsafe, until the manufacturer has been notified, and gives their approval.

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10 hours ago, Tango Foxtrot said:

Does anybody here know for sure if it is legal to install seat belts on a tractor with no roll protection ? I don't think it is. At any rate, are these seat belts they installed, approved by the original manufacturer ?

Seat belts on a vehicle with no engineered safe space are extremely dangerous. Think about quads , boats and lawn tractors to name a few. All of the machines with seat belts have a roll cage etc.

 Someone should go out there and tag every one of those tractors as unsafe, until the manufacturer has been notified, and gives their approval.

So in reaction to what appears to have been a One of accident............. 

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Weird regulations, depending on where you see the tow vehicles etc. There are cases in the USA where seat belts must be worn but only under certain circumstances and it also depends on the regulations espoused by the company who is responsible for providing the ground handling. It seems to be a given that seat belts may be on the vehicle  but most operators don't want them and don't use them for a myriad of reasons with the main reason being inconvenience...( data ascertained by anonymous polls of ramp workers). 

I would hate to be wearing a seat belt on a tow.baggage vehicle if there was a rollover. I know seated  lawn mowers with no ROP  don't have seat belts and they can move at a very good clip. 

 

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15 minutes ago, DEFCON said:

Why are these machines built with such a high cg?

based on my experience from driving one, the cg is not high as long as the operator is well trained and pays attention to the conditions. A little like you are expected to do when operating your personal vehicle. In fact the cg is more favorable than a lot of vehicle currently on the road. I am however curious Defcon where you get the idea that the COG is bad?

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