Latest news with #CNESST
Montreal Gazette
2 days ago
- Sport
- Montreal Gazette
Montreal closes 32 tennis courts after asbestos found in surfacing product
The City of Montreal temporarily closed 32 clay tennis courts on its territory this week due to possible asbestos contamination of the playing surface. The situation arose after material made by American supplier Har-Tru and used to maintain clay courts was found to contain asbestos levels above the suggested maximum of 0.1 per cent established by the federal ministries of health and the environment. Municipal clay courts were closed in the boroughs of Outremont, Verdun, LaSalle, St-Léonard and Pierrefonds-Roxboro. City spokesperson Gonzalo Nunez said via email that the city is seeking to determine if any of its other sports installations use the Har-Tru product in question. 'If that's the case, these installations will also be closed as a preventive measure,' he noted. Quebec's work health safety board, the CNESST, first advised the city about the presence of asbestos in the product in question. 'As a preventive measure, we asked to temporarily close the clay court installations we own that use the Har-Tru product,' Nunez said. 'We ask employees to not manipulate the product. We have also asked (the CNESST) to continue an inventory of the private and public courts and installations on their territory and to quickly inform the private companies who operate them to take the necessary measures.' The city is waiting for answers from the CNESST regarding what preventive measures to put in place, Nunez explained. In the meantime, the city suggests that the affected courts not be used until it receives the recommendations of the public health authority. He added that analyzing the product is the responsibility of the federal government, which approved it for import and use in Canada. Based in Troy, Virginia, Har-Tru provides tennis court surfaces, equipment and accessories throughout the U.S. and in 23 countries around the world. It is the official court surface of the National Bank Open and official paint supplier to Tennis Canada, and is used on over 150 tennis courts across the country. Har-Tru did not respond to messages left by The Gazette on Friday. In a statement sent to media this week, the company said it has hired an independent lab to conduct tests on the materials used in its factory and on delivery samples sent to its Canadian distributors. 'Har-Tru anticipates a temporary pause in the importation, sales and use of our materials in Quebec and possibly elsewhere,' the statement said. 'We will work with authorities in order to meet their requirements.' The current crisis began on July 31 with a test conducted on a tennis court in St-Sauveur, leading to the closing of several courts in the region. Other municipalities including Prevost, Rosemère and Repentigny followed suit this week by closing their clay courts. The city of Montreal is currently in a holding pattern until it receives more information. 'We're waiting for directives from public health on the conditions and the reopening of the courts,' Nunez said.
CTV News
3 days ago
- CTV News
Guatemalan man's estate entitled to redress after court says death was linked to work
The Quebec Court of Appeal is seen in Montreal, on Saturday, March 29, 2025. (Graham Hughes/The Canadian Press) MONTREAL — Quebec's Court of Appeal has ruled that the family of a Guatemalan farm worker crushed to death in 2021 trying to repair a flat tire on his employer's car is entitled to compensation. The high court ruled in majority 2-1 decision that Ottoniel Lares Batzibal was on the job when he died and his estate should have been compensated. Previously, Quebec's workers health and safety board, the CNESST, had denied the claim because they didn't believe the death fit the criteria of a workplace death. The estate eventually was granted leave to appeal the matter before the Court of Appeal. In the July 31 ruling, two of the three-judge panel ruled the worker's death was an occupational injury and the appeal should be allowed. Batzibal died on July 18, 2021, after becoming trapped under a car in the garage of a fruit and vegetable farm south of Quebec City where he'd worked for several years. This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 7, 2025.
Yahoo
4 days ago
- Yahoo
Guatemalan man's estate entitled to redress after court says death was linked to work
MONTREAL — Quebec's Court of Appeal has ruled that the family of a Guatemalan farm worker crushed to death in 2021 trying to repair a flat tire on his employer's car is entitled to compensation. The high court ruled in majority 2-1 decision that Ottoniel Lares Batzibal was on the job when he died and his estate should have been compensated. Previously, Quebec's workers health and safety board, the CNESST, had denied the claim because they didn't believe the death fit the criteria of a workplace death. The estate eventually was granted leave to appeal the matter before the Court of Appeal. In the July 31 ruling, two of the three-judge panel ruled the worker's death was an occupational injury and the appeal should be allowed. Batzibal died on July 18, 2021, after becoming trapped under a car in the garage of a fruit and vegetable farm south of Quebec City where he'd worked for several years. This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 7, 2025. The Canadian Press Sign in to access your portfolio
Winnipeg Free Press
4 days ago
- Winnipeg Free Press
Guatemalan man's estate entitled to redress after court says death was linked to work
MONTREAL – Quebec's Court of Appeal has ruled that the family of a Guatemalan farm worker crushed to death in 2021 trying to repair a flat tire on his employer's car is entitled to compensation. The high court ruled in majority 2-1 decision that Ottoniel Lares Batzibal was on the job when he died and his estate should have been compensated. Previously, Quebec's workers health and safety board, the CNESST, had denied the claim because they didn't believe the death fit the criteria of a workplace death. The estate eventually was granted leave to appeal the matter before the Court of Appeal. In the July 31 ruling, two of the three-judge panel ruled the worker's death was an occupational injury and the appeal should be allowed. Monday Mornings The latest local business news and a lookahead to the coming week. Batzibal died on July 18, 2021, after becoming trapped under a car in the garage of a fruit and vegetable farm south of Quebec City where he'd worked for several years. This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 7, 2025.
CTV News
6 days ago
- CTV News
Man dead after Terrebonne construction site accident
A 21-year-old man is dead after a workplace accident at a construction site in Terrebonne, north of Montreal, on Monday afternoon. According to Terrebonne police, the man was working at a site on Florimond-Gauthier Street. Noovo Info reports that road, water pipe and sewer repairs were being carried out in the area. Police would not confirm the specifics of the incident, but some media reports mention that the man may have been crushed by the bucket of an excavator. A joint investigation by Terrebonne police and Quebec's occupational health and safety board, the Commission des normes, de l'équité, de la santé et de la sécurité du travail (CNESST), is underway.
