Press Releases
May 30th 2019
Aluminerie Alouette recognized for health and safety

SEPT-ÎLES, May 30, 2019 – Last Wednesday at Cégep de Sept-Îles, Aluminerie Alouette was awarded a distinction in the large business innovation category at the Gala régional des Grands Prix santé-sécurité du travail. Maintenance employees were proud to see their innovation, a chain reel, receive such an award. Aluminerie Alouette will represent the Côte-Nord at the Quebec wide competition next year.

 

Every year, the Commission des normes, de l'équité, de la santé et de la sécurité du travail (CNESST) holds a highly anticipated awards ceremony alongside its annual symposium. This year’s winning idea, conceptualized and designed by Aluminerie Alouette’s mechanical technicians with the help of one of the company’s technical advisors, has many advantages. It significantly reduces risks of falling objects, vehicle-pedestrian coactivity and caught limbs. Massive chains almost 30 metres in length must be replaced in areas where vehicles, some carrying molten metal, are present. Chains would usually be unrolled manually in passageways, a method that poses inherent risks.

 

After an unsuccessful search for safe equipment from specialized providers, the team took matters into their own hands and developed their own. The reel, which looks like a huge wheel, has lateral guards to keep the chain in the centre. A central component prevents resistance from the wheel and the chain with no effort or risk during rolling. Finally, the reel is mounted on a structure so that it can be moved easily with a forklift.

 

“At Alouette, it’s easy to turn our ideas for improvement into reality, especially when our everyday health and safety are involved. I hope that our invention will be used everywhere and help prevent injuries,” stated Bruno Doucet, a mechanical technician and member of the company’s Health, Safety and Environment Committee.

 

Sébastien Scherrer, Manager, Management Systems, added, “There are many innovations at Alouette every year. It’s thanks to our employees’ expertise and engagement that we can aim for zero injuries.”

 

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.

About Aluminerie Alouette
Inaugurée en 1992, Aluminerie Alouette est une entreprise indépendante de production d’aluminium.
Avec près de 850 employés, elle est le plus important employeur privé de Sept-Îles.
Sa capacité de production annuelle de plus de 620 000 tonnes d’aluminium de première fusion en fait la plus importante aluminerie des Amériques.
L’usine de Sept-Îles place le développement durable au cœur de ses actions.