New partnerships

IRSST president and CEO, Marie Larue, and the director of the National Institute for Occupational Health and Safety (NIOSH) of the United States, John Howard, signed a new partnership agreement.. The NIOSH is considered one of the most influential OHS research centres on the international scene. Among other things, the agreement provides for (1) exploration of research topics of common interest; (2) exchanges aimed at strengthening staff expertise; (3) the dissemination, transfer and implementation of research results; and (4) the sharing and exchange of OHS information resources.

In order to conduct studies on the impact of thermal stress on workers in different types of work environments who are subject to heat or cold in their daily work, the Université du Québec à Montréal (UQAM) and the IRSST pooled their efforts to create the Laboratoire d’environnement contrôlé (LEC)(controlled environment laboratory). Temperatures in this laboratory can be set between ‒30 and + 40 degrees Celsius and relative humidity levels between 20% and 95%, to reproduce a variety of environmental conditions.

2014 institutional colloquium

Under the theme Occupational diseases: overview, challenges and outlook, the 2014 colloquium sought to provide an overview of the prevailing situation regarding occupational diseases in Québec and around the globe, and of the challenges they pose, particularly in terms of risk identification.

An eBook at your finger tips

The IRSST published its first digital book in ePUB format: the English translation (Ergonomic Intervention) of L’Intervention en ergonomie, created by Marie St-Vincent, Nicole Vézina (UQAM), Marie Bellemare (Université Laval), Denys Denis, Élise Ledoux and Daniel Imbeau (École polytechnique de Montréal).

Published in French in 2011, L’intervention en ergonomie met with resounding success in the French-speaking world. More than 1,000 copies (paper and digital versions) of its first edition were sold, and in September 2012, the editor produced a second print run.