3rd Edition of the Rendez-vous de la SS du réseau montréalais
The third Rendez-vous en santé-sécurité du réseau montréalais meeting was held at collège Bois-de-Boulogne, last March 17th. On its way to becoming a tradition, the activity, launched by the comité MEES-CSST-réseau was co-hosted by two dynamic presenters: Daniel Leroux, resource-person at the Direction régionale de Montréal du MEES, and Alain Prud’homme, director at the École des métiers de la construction de Montréal (EMCM) and committee member. All together, there were over one hundred managers and representatives in health and safety from the school boards, training centres, cégeps and universities, as well as three regional CSST representatives from the Montreal area who participated in this regional event.
The goal of the meeting was to impress upon the educational community the importance of developing and maintaining a culture of prevention. In the first part of the meeting, two CSST representatives presented their material to the guests. Guylaine Bourque, engineer and counselling expert at the Direction de la prévention-inspection, started things off by demystifying the abstract idea of corrective measures. To help the audience understand, she used her "sugar pie analogy": with the concept of corrective measures, there are tons of recipes that don't all necessarily use the same ingredients, and it is up to each individual to select the one that best suits their preferences and situation. Simon Massicotte, a lawyer at la Direction régionale de l’Île-de-Montréal 1, followed with a dynamic speech on the recent increase in fines that Bill 35 introduced in the Act respecting occupational health and safety. Participants were informed of the advantages associated with adopting an ideal of health and safety management, from reducing the number of accidents in the work place to the costs associated with non-compliance. During the second half of the activity, six managers from school boards on the island of Montreal participated in a panel entitled "MEES is talking about it." Participants were invited to share the steps taken by their respective establishments to make sure that health and safety measures were a priority. Each participant then had one minute to respond to a question. Paula Pedroso, director at Pearson Electrotechnology Centre, summed up the ultimate goal of the establishment's approach on prevention: "To make sure that the students have the inner strength to tell their employers that they won't put their lives at risk."
Pierre-Paul Vaudreuil, director of health and safety at the Direction régionale de l’Île-de-Montréal 2, concluded the meeting by recognizing the efforts made by the schools to make learning environments and their equipment safe. He also emphasized the need to maintain the gains made while addressing other health and safety aspects in their establishments.
The Rendez-vous was a good networking opportunity for all participants. They had a chance to make their points on the status of health and safety, and the diligence at the cégep level and in vocational training. School administrators were able to share ideas with each other and leave better equipped to continue prevention work.
For more information, we encourage you to consult the complete report below.