Posted by The National Institute of Public Health – INSPQ finally reversed last week its catastrophic decisions of April and, with 9 months of inexcusable delay, the INSPQ acknowledges with a straight face that COVID contamination “can “ occur by aerosolization within our health care institutions.
The INSPQ has produced an analysis grid (1) to evaluate this “possibility”. It is a question of making complex evaluations of the micro characteristics of a work environment. Attempting to go through all the subtleties of the analysis document puts the manager in the situation of the sorcerer who wants to prove that he can dance on the burning embers without burning his feet.
The manager is called upon to begin his analysis work when there is a “sustained and increasing evolution in the number of cases“. Using the analysis grid, management can therefore recommend the use of N-95, it must be limited to “uncontrolled outbreaks“, so once the devastation has begun.
How many “YES” or “NO” marks must be checked on the analysis grid to allow the wearing of the N-95 mask?
For this reason alone, this document, which admits aerosol contamination without taking the necessary precautionary and preventive measures, should be thrown in the garbage.
The INSPQ document goes against the first rule of occupational health and safety which is to prevent with appropriate means BEFORE the problem hits us.
How can INSPQ physicians think they can respect their ethical commitments by admitting that aerosol infections exist and, in the same document, put forward an analysis grid that is so open to interpretation and that only serves to limit the taking of preventive measures?
By using the INSPQ’s proposed grid as it stands, we risk suffering many more workplace outbreaks because the starting point that consists of analyzing “uncontrolled outbreaks” is erroneous. COVID has been present in our institutions since March and COVID is also transmitted in aerosol mode.
The question is now put to the government: how many more outbreaks are you willing to endure in the healthcare network before simply admitting that contamination is also in aerosol mode and that it must be prevented in order not to have to cure?
We’ve been swimming in COVID for almost a year now. At the MUHC, we have over 850 people infected with COVID and many of these infections have occurred in the workplace. It’s no longer time to dance around the fire hoping not to get burned. The second wave is not over and already experts are telling us that there will be a third wave. Enough is enough! We want real protection measures real prevention measures.
We demand N-95 masks or higher for anyone working in a yellow or red zone of the healthcare network.
Union Executive
L’INSPQ a produit une grille d’analyse[1] qui permet d’évaluer ce « peut ». Il s’agit ici de faire des évaluations complexes des micro caractéristiques d’un milieu de travail. Tenter de passer à travers toutes les subtilités du document d’analyse place le gestionnaire dans la situation du sorcier qui veut prouver qu’il peut danser sur les braises ardentes sans se brûler les pieds.
[1] https://www.inspq.qc.ca/sites/default/files/publications/3106-exposition-travailleurs-sante-eclosion-controlee.pdf – see document below