After years of waiting, the Commission on Standards, Equal Opportunities, Health and Safety at Work (CNESST) has introduced new safety measures for construction sites that came into force on January 1st.
“These are measures that have been provided for in the Occupational Safety and Health Act since 1979,” emphasized the Vice President of CSN-Construction, Félix Ferland. It must be understood that the legislator decided not to apply these measures.
From now on, if there are more than 10 workers on a construction site at the same time, an occupational safety officer must be appointed.
The contractor should also develop a prevention program during the planning phase.
If a construction site employs more than 100 workers at a time or exceeds $12 million, the project manager must appoint a health and safety coordinator. In particular, he must participate in the development of a prevention program, investigate incidents that have caused or could have caused an accident at work and inspect workplaces.
“These are measures that have proven their worth,” assures Mr. Ferland. It exists in the mining sector, for example, and has significantly reduced work-related injuries and fatalities.”
According to CNESST, the number of accidents at work increased by more than 16% between 2015 and 2018.
“You have to understand that we are the deadliest industry in Quebec. We have 35% of the deaths while we are about 5-6% of the total employment. So there is an issue that needs to be addressed,” argued Mr. Ferland.
A CNESST representative was not available to respond to TVA Nouvelles’ interview request. However, in an email exchange, the organization confirmed that “just over 70 inspectors have been trained to support construction jobs when these measures come into effect”.