Regulator also finds weak safety management and training
A CNESST investigation has found that deficient fall protection and gaps in safety management contributed to the death of a farm worker who fell more than 10 metres from a grain‑silo ladder in Sainte‑Élisabeth, Que.
Fatal fall during urgent contamination check
On Oct. 8, 2025, the worker with Les sols Christian inc. climbed the fixed ladder on silo C4 at the Soya Rive‑Nord facility to check whether organic soybeans had been contaminated with other grains. While he was on the ladder, at least 4.6 metres above the walkway, he lost a point of support, struck the ladder’s crinoline and the upper rail of the guardrail, landed on the walkway and then rolled under the guardrail, falling another six metres to the concrete floor. He later died of his injuries.
In its report, the Commission des normes, de l’équité, de la santé et de la sécurité du travail (CNESST) concluded the accident had two main causes: “While the worker was on the fixed ladder of a silo, he lost one of his points of support and fell a total of at least 10.6 metres to the ground,” and “health and safety management was deficient, particularly with respect to compliance of fall protection on the fixed ladder giving access to the silo.”
Ladder modified without regulatory checks
The ladder in question had been modified in 2024, when the upper section was replaced with a metal ladder equipped with a crinoline. Those modifications were carried out “without consulting the applicable regulations,” investigators found. The two‑section ladder now measured 7.9 metres from the walkway, and the top of the silo stood 14.2 metres above the concrete floor.
Despite this height, the ladder was “not equipped with a continuous fall‑arrest protection system along its entire length,” contrary to Quebec’s Regulation respecting occupational health and safety (RSST), which requires a compliant fall‑arrest device when there is a danger of falling more than six metres from a fixed ladder. The report stresses that because the ladder allowed a potential free fall of more than 15 metres, the 2024 work “needed to provide for a fall‑arrest device (slider) compliant with the applicable standards.”
Beyond the ladder, CNESST inspectors found the elevated walkway serving silos C1 to C4 had been built in 2024 without specialist input or reference to the province’s building code. Openings in the floor and incomplete guardrails near the silos created additional fall hazards. Following the accident, the agency prohibited use of the walkway and fixed ladders.
Safety management and training under scrutiny
Investigators also identified wider shortcomings in safety management. The employer had supplied harnesses and lanyards, but “the two positioning hooks were not suitable for climbing a ladder,” and there were “no specific directives for wearing the safety harness or training on its safe use.” Workers confirmed they did not use fall protection when climbing the silos. At the organizational level, CNESST noted that there was no participation mechanism in place for health and safety, even though small employers are required to have an action plan and designate a liaison officer.
The agency is sharing its findings with the Union des producteurs agricoles, the Producteurs de grains du Québec and the Canadian Agricultural Safety Association, among others, to stress the need for individual fall‑arrest protection when accessing agricultural structures via fixed ladders. “Although the presence of a crinoline is permitted for fixed ladders installed before January 2019, this device does not constitute protection against the danger of falling to the ground,” the report warns.
