Safety board recommends amendments to road signage rules ‘so that it favours traffic control methods that reduce the exposure of a road flagger to the danger of being hit and crushed by vehicles’
Two fatal construction-site accidents involving road flaggers in Quebec could have been prevented with better planning and stricter traffic control measures, according to new investigation findings from the Commission des normes, de l’équité, de la santé et de la sécurité du travail (CNESST).
In reports released on Feb. 11 and 12, 2026, CNESST detailed how two flaggers were crushed by heavy vehicles on jobsites in 2025 — one in Saint-Calixte and the other in Drummondville — and outlined corrective measures aimed at employers, municipalities and the provincial transport ministry.
Flagger crushed by grader moving forward
In Joliette on Feb. 12, the CNESST released its investigation into the July 17, 2025 death of a road flagger employed by TGC inc. at a construction site in Saint-Calixte. Road preparation work for paving was underway on Route 335, which remained open to local traffic between Dufour and Jocelyne streets.
The investigation determined that the worker “was fatally crushed while moving toward the work zone, with her back to the grader, in the blind spot of the operator who was maneuvering forward.” It found that “inadequate management of road user and construction vehicle traffic led the traffic flagger to position herself in the work zone and exposed her to a risk of collision.”
Around 11:40 a.m., dump trucks arriving from Dufour Street had stopped on Jocelyne Street to access Route 335 and reach the excavated section of the worksite farther north. The flagger entered the work area to ask a backhoe operator to let the trucks pass, then moved back toward the intersection. As she did so, “a grader moved toward her and struck her.” She was transported to hospital and pronounced dead.
The CNESST concluded the accident could have been avoided “if traffic plans and road signage compliant with regulations had been prepared and implemented, and if control methods that reduce the flagger’s exposure to danger had been prioritized.” A complete closure of the intersection, even briefly, “would have allowed the paving work to be carried out in accordance with the standards of Volume V – Road Signage, without compromising the safety of motorists and the flagger.”
Flagger killed in reversing trailer incident
On Feb. 11 in Trois-Rivières, the CNESST released its findings into the April 4, 2025 death of a construction-site flagger employed by 9358‑4753 Québec inc. on Robert‑Bernard Street in Drummondville. The worker “died after being crushed by the tipper trailer of a tractor-trailer during a reversing maneuver.”
The flagger had been directing traffic and guiding reversing trucks delivering crushed stone. At about 7:45 a.m., a tractor‑trailer was parked along the road waiting to enter the site. “As a driver approached the entrance to her workplace, the flagger stopped behind the trailer.” The driver then began a short reversing manoeuvre toward the construction access road, “without seeing the flagger.” The worker was struck and crushed, and later pronounced dead in hospital.
Investigators cited three causes, including that “the driver of the tractor-trailer with a tipper trailer began a reversing maneuver without being directed and struck the construction site flagger who was directly behind it,” and that “inadequate planning of site access, including management of reversing maneuvers, exposed the site flagger to a risk of collision.” The report also found that “the management and control of road user traffic by a construction site flagger exposed the latter to a risk of collision when such a measure could have been avoided.”
According to the CNESST, “safe site planning would have allowed work vehicles to enter and exit the site in forward gear, without reversing and without the need for a flagger.”
Traffic planning, signage and training under scrutiny
Across both cases, the CNESST urged project managers, municipalities and employers to refer to Chapter 4 of Volume V – Road Signage, to “use the standard drawing appropriate to the work situation or obtain a signage plan signed and sealed by an engineer if a standard drawing is not applicable as is,” and to install signage accordingly while clearly marking work areas with visual indicators.
The agency said traffic control methods that reduce a flagger’s exposure to danger must be prioritised. Where flaggers are necessary, the Saint‑Calixte report specifies they must be “located in a safe position outside the traffic lanes and the work area.” Movements of construction vehicles must be planned “so as to separate their movement from that of pedestrians, including the road flagger, so that there is no co-activity,” and traffic plans must be developed in advance when 10 or more workers will be present on site.
To address reversing risks, the Drummondville report says project managers must plan vehicle movements “to minimize these maneuvers.” If reversing cannot be eliminated, they must either “provide a designated and marked setback area reserved solely for this purpose where no one can walk” or ensure “a site marshal must be present to guide the vehicle driver throughout the reversing maneuver.”
As part of its follow-up, the CNESST will forward its findings to Quebec’s Transport and Sustainable Mobility Ministry (MTMD) and recommend amendments to Volume V – Road Signage “so that it favours traffic control methods that reduce the exposure of a road flagger to the danger of being hit and crushed by vehicles.” It will also recommend that regulatory chapters of Volume V be made available free of charge and will develop a reference guide on traffic control methods that reduce exposure to danger for road flaggers.
