The IRSST is named a vice-chair of the International Section of the ISSA for Research on Prevention of Occupational Risks

The Institut de recherche Robert-Sauvé en santé et en sécurité du travail (IRSST) will serve as one of the vice-chairs of the International Section of the ISSA (International Social Security Association) for Research on Prevention of Occupational Risks. IRSST president and CEO, Marie Larue, will rep...

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Lobster Fishing: Preventing Falls Overboard

Commercial fishing has always been a high-risk activity. Working on lobster boats buffeted by the waves, fishers handle heavy traps and long lengths of rope on slippery and unstable surfaces; conditions that can lead to falls overboard. Nevertheless, “this is the first time in Québec and Canada that researchers have studied the risks of falling overboard, in addition to documenting means of prevention and determining promising avenues to reduce these risks,” remarks professor Sylvie Montreuil of Université Laval, the study’s principal author.

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Improving Safety on Mid-shore Fishing Boats

Ocean fishing is one of the most dangerous occupations, as it is carried out under difficult conditions on a slippery, moving surface exposed to the elements. Researchers wanted to test the performance of the two most popular systems used in Québec to lessen roll, the transversal movement of vessels caused by swell or waves, and which pose significant risks in terms of the safety of mid-shore fishers. The researchers compared an increasingly popular technology, the hinged fin system, now found on 11% of the 292 vessels of over 15 gross tonnage, with that of paravanes, used on half of the fishing vessels inventoried.

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Choosing a Safe, Efficient Blow Gun

Montréal, February 11, 2015 – As a supplement to its Répertoire des silencieux, soufflettes et pistolets aspirateurs [directory of compressed-air mufflers, blow guns and vacuum guns], updated in 2012, the Institut de recherche Robert-Sauvé en santé et en sécurité du travail (IRSST), in co...

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Promoting safe use of biological degreasing stations

The Institut de recherche Robert-Sauvé en santé et en sécurité du travail (IRSST) recently published a fact sheet aimed at preventing work-related injuries caused by the use of biological degreasing stations. These degreasing stations are used for manually removing grease from metal parts, among other things, in motor vehicle garages and mechanical maintenance shops.

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Choosing the appropriate safety belt for a lift truck

Developed with the input of a working group representing various sectors of activity, a practical information pamphlet and a complementary worksheet have just been published by the Institut de recherche Robert-Sauvé en santé et en sécurité du travail (IRSST) to assist preventionists, maintenance personnel, and lift truck suppliers in choosing the appropriate seat belt assembly for protecting lift truck operators. The Regulation respecting occupational health and safety requires that counterbalanced lift trucks be equipped with a retention device to prevent operators from being crushed by their truck in the event of a tipover.

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A matter that concerns us all!: Preventing workplace violence

The Institut de recherche Robert-Sauvé en santé et en sécurité du travail (IRSST), in collaboration with Recherche sur les interrelations personnelles, organisationnelles et sociales du travail (or RIPOST, a research group on personal, organizational and social interrelations at work), is launching a Web site that offers a practical, proven process for sustainably preventing workplace violence in all types of organizations.

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Planning tool: Safer manual handling

As part of a new approach to training, the Institut de recherche Robert-Sauvé en santé et en sécurité du travail (IRSST) has launched a planning support tool for safer manual material handling. Researchers worked with an assessment checklist for handling situations in designing this new tool, which was then tested by occupational health and safety (OHS) practitioners to render it as user friendly as possible. The tool is designed to help OHS practitioners gain a better understanding of material handling situations and plan changes and training activities appropriate to the work setting.

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Preventing MSDs: Designing Tools that Vibrate Less

Montreal, April 10, 2014 - Workers using vibrating tools are subject to effects that progress slowly and may result in musculoskeletal injuries or disorders in their upper limbs. For that reason, a research team set about measuring, among other things, the effects of factors such as the wrist deviation and grip strength exerted on tool handles, on vibration transmission and on muscle load.

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Bioaerosols: Control banding for improved respiratory protection

To compensate for the lack of occupational exposure values and toxicological data, as well as the limitations of current sampling techniques, a committee of experts proposed a control banding model for facilitating the selection of appropriate respiratory protection against the great diversity of infectious and non-infectious bioaerosols present in workplaces. Easy to use, the proposed model consists of the four risk groups used in biosafety (1. low risk for individuals and communities; 2. moderate risk for individuals, low for communities; 3. high risk for individuals, low for communities; 4. high risk for individuals and communities) and five exposure levels (very low, low, medium, high, very high). Data cross-tabulation is used to establish an assigned protection factor (APF) that occupational health and safety practitioners will take into account in choosing appropriate respiratory protective equipment.

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