2024-02-15 23:46:00
In December alone, the CNESST issued no less than 18 exemptions in a report submitted to the RLF consortium, made up of Pomerleau, Eurovia QC and Dodin QC, mainly affecting the ventilation of the site. (Photo: Quebec Ministry of Transport)
The CNESST is concerned for the safety of workers and the public in the Louis-Hippolyte-La Fontaine tunnel. And she informed several times over the last few months the project manager of the site of the repair of the work, Renouveau-La Fontaine (RLF), was able to note Deals.
In December alone, the Commission for Standards, Equity, Health and Safety at Work (CNESST) issued no less than 18 exemptions, in a report submitted to the RLF consortium, made up of Pomerleau, Eurovia QC and Dodin QC, mainly affecting the ventilation of the site, as well as the “quality” and “quantity” of air therein, particularly in the South tube where most of the work is currently concentrated. Some of these shortcomings, observed in October, had still not been improved, noted the Commission.
“The whole situation demonstrates that the project manager does not use the methods and techniques aimed at identifying, controlling and eliminating the risks of construction site ventilation that might affect the health and safety of the worker,” concludes the CNESST in this report written a week before Christmas.
“Despite numerous visits and conversations,” continue the Commission inspectors, “the project manager is not mobilizing to quickly resolve the situation. Health and safety management is deficient, which can affect the safety of workers and the public,” they repeat, this time in a document produced at the beginning of February.
In December, inspectors noted that in the North tube, the two-way traffic of vehicles had an impact on the direction of air circulation and that fog was being created, “which was not the case before the start of the construction site”. The project manager then “reiterated that he did not have a ventilation plan for the tube reserved for traffic”. At that time, he also told the CNESST that the tunnel’s original ventilation towers were closed.
In February, the consortium this time said the opposite, affirming that these same towers had never been closed, and that no modifications had “been made to the existing ventilation system”. The RLF representative then said that the “existing ventilation system remained adequate and effective,” wrote the CNESST.
Since this Commission visit, several sources have confirmed to Deals that the health and safety director of Renouveau La Fontaine, as well as at least one other person assigned to the health and safety of workers and the public at the facility, had left their positions.
Requests made to the Ministry of Transport of Quebec for several days, in order to know the exact circumstances of these departures, as well as to obtain explanations regarding the conclusions of the CNESST on the health of workers and the public, have remained a dead letter to the time of writing these lines.
High turnover rate
Remember that last August, the mega-construction site was interrupted for almost two weeks due to mold in the central service corridor, located between the two tubes. The CNESST was referred to the case following workers refused to continue their activities there. At the request of the CNESST, the Montreal Regional Public Health Department has been involved in the matter since this episode.
In December, the CNESST indicated in its reports that despite exemptions issued in October and November, “no ventilation plan has yet been established for the central corridor.” She also notes “that enclosures with curtain doors are still installed in different places in the corridor” and “that no beginning of air is felt inside these areas”. A plan was finally submitted in February.
“Several of our workers are asking us not to go to this construction site. And as soon as there is an opportunity, they go to another site. Some call it the tunnel from hell,” says Evan Picotte, responsible for prevention and occupational safety at the Quebec Provincial Council for Construction Trades (International).
“Yes, there is a certain change that has taken place, but it happens through repetition, through complaints and persistence,” he continues, adding that at the end of the summer, the turnover of personnel on the construction site was around 30%
A turnover rate is also observed at the FTQ Construction, which denounces the working conditions on the site. “From the moment the workers reported that there were problems with ventilation, that some were in pain, lacked stamina or had headaches, it took time before we improved the situation. For me, this is not normal. That’s poor organization of work and poor planning of work,” says Simon Lévesque, health and safety manager for the union.
“If the organization of work is not good, productivity will never be good and workers will always be at risk,” he continues.
“We can congratulate the health and safety representatives (RSS) on site and the union actors who highlighted the dangers so that RLF would take charge,” said Félix Ferland, health manager. and safety at CSN Construction. The latter affirms that a “clear improvement” has been noted recently.
“Blank documents”
Both for the South and North tubes and for the central service corridor, the CNESST also asked RLF last fall to keep a register for the compilation of the results of “air quality, quantity of air and the sense of air.
When they returned to the site this winter, Commission inspectors found that this register had been prepared, as requested. However, they remind the project manager of the site, the register “must be completed” and that “the one submitted does not include any data and it is a blank document”.
Also in February, the CNESST noted the absence of a control plan “for the flow of equipment carried out at the South tube”. This, adds the Commission, “may cause an increase in the concentration of carbon monoxide in the air and cause risks of poisoning”.
“What we want is the result. We don’t care a bit regarding what will happen to the workers, laments Evan Picotte. The main challenge now is implementing the procedures and plans they [le consortium] have implemented. When we transfer to the other tube, we will see if they have learned from what happened in the South tube.
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