Julien Dionne said he's left with a lot of questions after his only child, 39-year-old Rhéal Dionne, died in a workplace accident while driving a dump truck at Rainbow Concrete Feb. 15.
He said he was told his son was using the truck to haul snow when he drove it through an archway on company property, and part of the structure collapsed onto the vehicle.
The heavy debris crashed through the top of the truck's cab, crushing his son.
“At the hospital, the doctors said he didn't suffer,” he said.
Julien said the truck's box had to have been up to make contact with the archway, causing it to fall.
“It could have been that he left the box up, or the box could have gone up on its own — that happens too, those kinds of accidents,” he said.
As far as he knows, Rhéal, who had worked for Rainbow Concrete for about three years, was qualified to drive the dump truck.
He normally drives a cement truck with shotcrete destined for local mining companies, but had picked up the extra shift driving the dump truck to earn money for his family.
A retired Inco employee, Julien said the issue of dump trucks leaving their boxes up was resolved at the mining company 30 years ago, as a light would go on in the dash as soon as the box left the frame.
Julien used to work for Steelworkers Local 6500, investigating workplace deaths and teaching occupational health and safety.
“It's kind of ironic that this is happening to us,” he said.
Rhéal's death is under investigation by the Ministry of Labour and Rainbow Concrete.
Rainbow Concrete is under a Ministry of Labour order to not place material that could tip, collapse or fall, a stop work order until the aforementioned order has been complied with, and a requirement for documentation.
For its part, Rainbow Concrete issued a short statement last week, saying the company is “deeply distraught” by its employee's death, and saying it's fully co-operating with the authorities in the investigation.
Rhéal Dionne's name has not officially been released by either the ministry or the company, but his family has chosen to speak out about his death.
As with other workplace deaths, charges under the Occupational Health and Safety Act and a coroner's inquest could follow, and the family knows it's in for a long, drawn-out process.
“When you're talking about the Ministry of Labour and the coroner, my hopes are dim,” Julien said.
He said he's seen too many times how the coroner makes recommendations, but they're not implemented.
“They'll look at them, but if they cost too much, boom, we're not going to do that,” he said.
Rhéal Dionne got married three years ago to Jessica Lapointe-Dionne, and was the father of a seven-year-old boy, Noah Lapointe-Dionne. The father and son spent time together on activities such as hockey and snowmobiling.
“What happened that day is my son got up to go to work, his son got up later, and the next thing he experienced was he came back from school, and his dad was dead,” said Julien. “As you can expect, that's very traumatic.”
He describes Rhéal as a “jovial” person, as is his grandson, Noah. Rhéal loved playing baseball, and was an avid Jays and Habs fan.
“He didn't drink, so he often went out to get friends at 2 or 3 in the morning and bring them home,” Julien said. “A lot of his friends that are going to be at the funeral are people who have got those rides, you know?”
His obituary describes him as a happy, caring and giving person, and said people would always walk away from him with a smile on their face.
Julien said he expects a big turnout at Rhéal's funeral on Monday at 10 a.m. at St-Jean-de-Brebeuf Church on Kathleen Street. Friends are even travelling from outside the province to be there.
The family is asking for donations (by cheque only) to the Noah Lapointe-Dionne Education Fund.
As they prepare for the funeral of someone so young, Julien and his wife, Sue, are left trying to make sense of the tragedy.
“There's no words,” he said. “There's a big blank there, and nothing I can do about it.”
