Quebec's workplace safety commission (CNESST) has issued 23 statements of offence at the Village Vacances Valcartier after discovering over 100 people under age 14 were working there without signed parental authorization.
The discovery was made following an investigation into a June 2022 work accident in which a young employee suffered serious head and upper body injuries.
The commission learned there were over 175 workers under age 14 on staff and that the employer lacked signed parental permission for about 100 of them.
The injured worker was part of a crew tasked with loading dead leaves from camping areas onto a trailer and dumping them in a designated area.
The employee, who was under 14, was ejected from the trailer during a turn and then struck by the vehicle.
CNESST identified two causes in this incident: the fact that the young man was standing in the loading box of the vehicle and a lack of training and supervision for new workers.
Fines for violations of the labour standard act range from $600 to $1,200 for a first offence and $1,200 to $6,000 for a repeat offence.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published in French on Dec. 15, 2022.
