SEPT-ÎLES, Quebec, June 3, 2016 – Aluminerie Alouette and its employees were acknowledged on Thursday at the 12th edition of the Grands Prix santé et sécurité du travail de la Côte-Nord (North Shore occupational health and safety awards), awarded by the CNESST, for an innovation dreamt up by a team of employees. Their idea reduces the risk of injury during maintenance work at port facilities. A winner in the large-business category, the Sept-Îles smelter considers employee involvement and health and safety to be core values.
The innovation in question, a cover with sliding panels for enclosed conveyors, was designed and developed by maintenance employees working mostly at the La Relance Terminal for the Material Handling and Gas Treatment Centers division. The conveyor is entirely housed in an overhead walkway about ten metres up attached to the unloading portal that pneumatically extracts raw materials from the cargo holds of ships. Made of aluminium, a choice lightweight material, the new sliding cover makes it easier to clean or repair the conveyor. The risks of falling from heights, impact from falling objects, pinching injuries or musculoskeletal damage have been virtually eliminated, especially since the previous cover weighed over 30 kg. The division’s mechanical technicians proactively put their creativity to good use in order to prevent injuries. Réjean Bourgeois, who first originated the idea, is quite gratified to see colleagues working more easily and safely with his invention.
“We’re constantly aiming for zero recordable injuries, and one way to eliminate the risks at source is to work with employees,” concludes Claude Boulanger, Aluminerie Alouette President and CEO. “Our most fundamental desire is to see all of our people going home in one piece after their shift.” Comprising employees and management personnel, the Health, Safety and Environment Committee has made it its mission to promote safety first and engage all of its personnel in that respect. Aluminerie Alouette is certified as an Elite Healthy Enterprise according to Standard BNQ 9700-800 of Quebec’s bureau of standards, and it has OHSAS 18001 certification.
