Comité SST

Invisible aggressors…Gotcha!

Occupational Health and Safety Week (October 14 to October 20, 2012)

When I take the time to be informed and to look at what is happening around me, I realize how much I am affected every day by the insidious presence of chemicals as invisible aggressors. In fact, these aggressors penetrate my skin through everything that I touch, my hair through hair care products and my body through what I eat and inhale. They are evident everywhere, both at home and at work in a multitude of care and cleaning products: detergents, disinfectants, medications, volatile anaesthetic gases, solvents, etc. Therefore, I have to find solutions to protect myself and to mitigate their devastating effects.

What can I do concretely to avoid some of the harmful effects of these chemicals, knowing how they are sometimes indispensible in my everyday life and particularly in the healthcare setting? What to do to replace them or find substitutes so that this living with chemicals will cause me the least harm possible?

As a healthcare professional, I am talking to you, the chemical aggressors that I don’t see, don’t feel, but that I know are there! The time is right for solutions during this occupational health and safety week. I therefore have decided to refuse to put up with your presence without reacting. I am refusing to be poisoned and suffer the short, medium and long term harmful consequences.

Protection against dangerous chemicals in the care settings is possible and… gotcha!

Different preventive measures are possible:

  • I ask my local OHS committee to make the employer aware of the importance of clearly identifying the various sources of contamination and the appropriate solutions.
  • I check the labels of dangerous products and I locate the pictograms.
  • If there is no possible substitute, I take the necessary measures to ensure my protection (eg. use gloves, wear a mask, etc.).

The employer must protect me against these invisible aggressors by respecting the rules of classification and labelling of chemical products and by providing me with the material necessary for my protection. In the printed special issue of the L’eSSenTiel newsletter, available at your local union office, as well as on the FIQ website in an electronic version, you will find a wealth of useful information to make you more aware of this problem. The articles and useful links will help you with answers to your questions while suggesting tools to help you to have your right to a safer environment respected.

Have a good OHS Week!

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