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OHS Team's mission is to bring together the largest number of workers in the field of occupational health and safety. By setting up this page bringing together different texts, we offer all colleagues, employees and friends of the company to share their knowledge and their visions on a variety of subjects dealing with health and safety.

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Being a Real Leader

- Bruno Martin, Safety Counsellor

On construction sites, there are certain advisers who call themselves “leaders” in health and safety.We meet several styles: specialists, office arm-chair generals, those who only want to climb the professional ladder, the self-nominated, the enlightened ones who believe they know it all, etc. Of these advisers, there are undoubtedly those who have all the qualities to be leaders on the ground but let me bring you my vision of things.

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That time...

- François Simard, General Manager & Safety Officer

Coming home from work a few days ago, I found myself thinking of something weird... How many people have not been injured by my work? Have I ever really saved a life? Could I be a hero without knowing it? Far from me the thought of being pretentious, those who know me could confirm it, this is not me. But given the work that we do in OHS, the question does arise, just as a pastry chef might wonder about the number of cakes he has produced. Obviously, cakes are easier to count than "no incident"...

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A woman among construction men...

- Catherine Cloutier, Safety Counsellor

When I was invited to write an article for the blog, I said to myself: Mmm! What subject could I speak about??? Health and safety is such a vast area... What topic might interest readers? Well, I thought about this, being a woman among construction men!

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The Labour force in construction (Part 2)

- Bruno Martin, Safety Counsellor

In part 1, we said that it made sense to team up a young worker with an experienced one. Except that we have to be careful with whom we match young workers. There are good and bad safety attitudes among experienced workers that I will describe in detail below. The supervisor must best mix the experience to equip himself with a high-performance team with a safety attitude or mentality

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Hand protection

- Bruno Martin, Safety Counsellor

Fingers and hands are the most injured limbs on construction sites. We use them in all our daily tasks; they are therefore vulnerable to being crushed, cut, punctured, exposed to various chemicals and vibrations. It is therefore important to protect them well, either with the right gloves for the task at hand, safety guards on rotary tools, the use of push buttons instead of fingers, etc.

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The elephants

- Bruno Martin, Safety Counsellor

One day, the Shriners Circus was performing near my house. My wife and I decided to take our four children to see the animals (to tell you the truth, I had never seen a circus with animals). After the show in the big tent, I took my kids backstage to get a closer look at the animals. Once in front of the elephants, I noticed that they were held only by a small rope that they could easily break. The guard explained to me that when they were young, they could not break their rope and were conditioned not to run away. That is why they stay in place even though they are now strong and can easily break the rope.

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Secure your web...

- Bruno Martin, Safety Counsellor

Did you know that some spiders can get caught in their own web? Generally, spiders avoid this deadly trap by knowing every part of their web and recognizing the sticky and non-sticky threads they produce. Their ultra-sensitive legs guide them over their web until one day something scares them or distracts them and it's the end…

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Closing your eyes

- Catherine Cloutier, Safety Counsellor

Let’s not hide it. All safety counsellor and prevention officer can confirm it. Despite the fact that workers on industrial sites are more and more aware of OSH, the fact remains that for some workers and supervisors, prevention officers are “trouble makers”… people who are there just stop the jobs. In short, they prefer to see us as far away as possible from the job site!

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Complacency, the unknown killer

- Bruno Martin, Safety Counsellor

By its nature, humans do not like changes, hence the ease in becoming complacent. Complacency is the state of being comfortable with our work, having unfounded confidence, no longer seeing the dangers around us, working mechanically, being on “autopilot”. The woodsman is no longer afraid of his power saw, the steel worker is no longer afraid of heights, the hunter is no longer afraid with a rifle. The attitude: “It will not happen to me... only to others!” Complacency is a feeling of security, it is the unconsciousness of the existence of possible dangers, potential failures or any other unexpected phenomena. Accidents happen when you least expect them and when analyzing reports of serious or fatal incidents, complacency almost certainly returns as the main cause or an aggravating factor.

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The Labour force in construction (Part 1)

- Bruno Martin, Safety Counsellor

The labour force in construction is made up of two distinct groups: young inexperienced workers and older workers with good or bad experiences.

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Stress, good or bad?

- Bruno Martin, Safety Counsellor

There is a difference between stress and pressure. We have pressure on a daily basis, we need it to motivate us and perform at our best.It is when you receive too much pressure, without the chance to recover, that stress begins. Stress can be defined as a negative reaction to an excessive build-up of pressure or demands on a person. Stress is the main cause of absenteeism from work.

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Suspension trauma

- Bruno Martin, Safety Counsellor

Suspension trauma occurs when the worker remains suspended in his harness for a long time. His blood collects in his legs and at the same time deprives the brain of blood flow and oxygen, vital to its proper functioning. According to several studies, the worker's suspension time is 10 to 20 minutes depending on his physical condition, after which irreversible damage can occur, even death.

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Construction site foxes

- Bruno Martin, Safety Counsellor

A young bird had got into the habit of flying under the trailer to eat a crust of bread left by a worker each day. At first, he overflew the trailer a few times and flew away at the slightest noise taking only a few bites, because he was very careful with humans. His short experience had taught him that humans can often be very dangerous. Over the weeks, he became more and more reckless, even going so far as to eat the whole piece without worrying about his environment. One fine day when he was enjoying his piece of bread, the last thing he heard was a clap. A fox who that was fonder of a young bird than a piece of bread, swallowed him in one bite.

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Being a Real Leader

- Bruno Martin, Safety Counsellor

Lire l'article complet

That time...

- François Simard, General Manager & Safety Officer

Lire l'article complet

A woman among construction men...

- Catherine Cloutier, Safety Counsellor

Lire l'article complet

The Labour force in construction (Part 2)

- Bruno Martin, Safety Counsellor

Lire l'article complet

Hand protection

- Bruno Martin, Safety Counsellor

Lire l'article complet

The elephants

- Bruno Martin, Safety Counsellor

Lire l'article complet

Secure your web...

- Bruno Martin, Safety Counsellor

Lire l'article complet

Closing your eyes

- Catherine Cloutier, Safety Counsellor

Lire l'article complet

Complacency, the unknown killer

- Bruno Martin, Safety Counsellor

Lire l'article complet

The Labour force in construction (Part 1)

- Bruno Martin, Safety Counsellor

Lire l'article complet

Stress, good or bad?

- Bruno Martin, Safety Counsellor

Lire l'article complet

Suspension trauma

- Bruno Martin, Safety Counsellor

Lire l'article complet

Construction site foxes

- Bruno Martin, Safety Counsellor

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