Simon Lévesque, Head of Health and Safety, FTQ-ConstructionWith regard to construction, we've had the same demands for 40 years. There's constant talk about those involved on work sites taking charge of their environment, however we lack the tools to do so. There are a lot of serious accidents in the construction industry. Health and safety is measured by the number of workplace fatalities, which is particularly high in construction, however we must not forget about the workers who are seriously injured. Sites must be organized so that lives stop being destroyed. In recent years, the pressure has increased enormously, as there's a lot of work in the construction industry and employers are scrambling to try to facilitate entry into the trade for poorly trained workers. Training is being weakened. Instead of requiring vocational diplomas, labour pools are being opened up, often at the expense of workers and their health and safety.
Intervention on construction sites is difficult because although workers want assistance, they do not want to be targeted by employers and risk losing their jobs. Furthermore, union representatives cannot be on site full-time to follow up on work methods and work organization as a whole. With regard to the pandemic, our main work concerns hygiene, sanitation, eating areas and their regular cleaning, hand washing, etc. Asking for water for hand washing is like asking for a luxury. It was always presented as something impossible. And yet, on sites where water is needed for the job to be done, the means are found to provide adequate toilets where our workers can wash their hands with soap. There are other cases, such as a contractor who installed a hand-washing station with a water heater, a wash basin -- a proper portable facility. So it is possible! Of course we can't give up! It's a basic demand and it must be met!
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The
main tool we require is the prevention
representative. We want to have
prevention representatives appointed by the
unions, who will go to work
sites, involve themselves in health and safety,
do the appropriate
follow-up, enforce prevention programs and
modify employers' prevention
programs without being threatened with
dismissal. Even though they are
unionized, our workers have no job security. As
soon as they raise a
health and safety issue, they're let go under
false pretexts, such as
being told by employers that they no longer have
any work for them.
Prevention representatives are required to
improve health and safety
records.