Occupational health

This collection of fact sheets, which was prepared in response to numerous requests for simple and accurate information on psychosocial risk (PSR) factors in the workplace, is intended to serve as a practical tool for occupational health workers as a whole. The fact sheets were drawn up by experts from the Équipe de prévention des risques psychosociaux du travail et promotion de…

• The overall workload is evaluated by means of the cumulative set of occupational conditions, the level of physical activity and the level of energy expenditure.
• Exposure to an increased number of occupational conditions is linked to increased preterm deliveries and, to a lesser extent, to increased small-for-gestational-age births.
• Increases in the incidence of…

• Environmental noise, defined as noise emitted from all sources excluding those in the workplace, is pervasive and constitutes a risk to health and quality of life.

• The review of the scientific literature shows that noise is a public health issue that can have multiple consequences, both physical and psychosocial. Environmental noise can be a source of…

A painful back, shoulder or wrist can make life difficult. Work-related musculoskeletal disorders (WMSDs) occur frequently in the workplace and affect many Québec workers.

The Québec Survey on Working and Employment Conditions and Occupational Health and Safety (QSWECOHS) sheds new light on WMSDs. (See the sidebar entitled Data Source on the reverse side of this document.) In 2007,…

What are the causes of work-related musculoskeletal disorders (WMSDs)? Numerous scientific studies have highlighted the important contribution of working conditions to the development of WMSDs, in particular physical work demands such as forceful exertion, repetitive movements and awkward body postures. The Québec Survey on Working and Employment Conditions and Occupational Health and Safety …

The underlying impetus of the occupational health framework is a desire to enact change. This tool aims to address the modernization challenges outlined in the Programme national de santé publique (MSSS, 2008) [Québec's updated public health program] and the Plan stratégique du Réseau de santé publique en santé au travail (MSSS, 2010) [the strategic plan of Québec's public health network in…

This summary is the third in a series of five short documents based on a literature review published in 2011. In what follows, we first present the mechanisms of action underlying traffic-calming strategies, as these mechanisms help explain and predict the effects of such strategies on traffic noise. Next, we summarize the results of studies having evaluated two approaches to traffic calming…

In 2002, the Table de coordination nationale de maladies infectieuses tasked a multisectoral working group with the development of a professional practice and intervention guide for persons who work with nonhuman primates. In 2010, the Table asked the Institut national de santé publique du Québec (INSPQ) to publish the guide and make it available to the public.

This guide is intended…

• Agriculture continues to dominate the primary industrial sector in Québec, but this field of activity is changing and must adapt to new socioeconomic realities such as pressure from open markets, numerous technological changes, declining farm incomes, farmers' high debt load, an aging farm population, and a shortage of young and beginning farmers. Another issue is the growing use of…

The Coalitions Linking Action and Science for Prevention (CLASP) project is an initiative of the Canadian Partnership Against Cancer (CPAC). Through this project, seven coalitions have been funded to integrate and build upon their practices to prevent cancer and other chronic diseases with similar determinants. The National Collaborating Centre for Healthy Public Policy (NCCHPP) is a partner…