IRSST (Occupational Health and Safety Research)

02/25/2025

Gold-standard laboratories for safer workplaces 🧪

Ensuring worker health and safety requires an advanced understanding of risks. This is where scientific expertise makes all the difference. At the IRSST, our laboratories put their know-how at the service of workplaces, offering analyses and measurement tools that are essential for preventing hazards.

🔬 State-of-the-art analysis and testing
Detecting the presence of chemical and biological contaminants, evaluating protective equipment, analyzing air and surfaces in the workplace. Our laboratories carry out rigorous analyses and tests that enable companies and organizations to anticipate risks and protect their teams.
Find out more 👉 https://www.irsst.qc.ca/en/laboratories/analysis

📏 Precise calibration for informed decisions
A poorly calibrated instrument can distort results and compromise safety. Our calibration, rental and repair services guarantee the reliability of occupational health and safety measurements. Accurate data means more effective prevention.
Discover our services 👉https://www.irsst.qc.ca/en/laboratories/loan-calibration-repairs

In Québec, we’re consolidating our role with companies and organizations that rely on sound science to improve and promote prevention. Across Canada, we’re paving the way for new collaborations by putting our expertise to work for a greater number of actors involved in occupational health and safety. The laboratories—the only ones of their kind in Canada—have adapted their service offering to meet the needs of a diversified client base and to safeguard workers’ health and safety.

Tools, data, recognized expertise: because better assessment means better prevention.

12/23/2024

✨ During this festive season, the IRSST wishes to express its gratitude to all those who, day after day, dedicate themselves to building healthier and safer workplaces.
Thank you to the researchers, partners, teams, and everyone who shares this essential vision.

Happy holidays to all! 🎄

12/10/2024

New Research Collaboration

The IRSST has received $180,000 in funding from WorkSafeBC and Mitacs to develop a laboratory method for analyzing piperazine, a respiratory and skin sensitizer used in industries such as coatings, pharmaceuticals, and carbon capture technologies.

🎯 Goal: To create a validated method that aligns with Quebec and British Columbia's regulatory requirements and enhances worker protection.

📅 Timeline: The project will run until 2026, including validation and field testing phases adapted to each province's needs.

👉 https://pulse.ly/e9vcfsazul

10/08/2024

🔧 From October 7 to 10, the IRSST is hosting the ISO/TC 299/WG 3 committee on industrial robotics safety.
Sabrina Jocelyn, a research expert at the IRSST, is working alongside international experts to establish safety standards that ensure the safe integration of industrial robots.
As host, the IRSST reinforces its dedication to promoting safer and more innovative work environments.

👉For more details : https://pulse.ly/3wuqyxbimp

09/20/2024

📢 New service available at IRSST!
Our sampling pumps now benefit from calibration and repair services, ensuring reliable measurements to safeguard worker health. 🌿
Learn more here:
https://pulse.ly/ssvfrapnhz

👉 For the original article in French, visit: https://pulse.ly/ssvfrapnhz

06/19/2024

Faced with the violence and dangers of the profession, police officers are at risk of psychological health problems such as post-traumatic stress disorder and major depression, conditions associated with suicidal behavior. Between 2015 and 2019, police officers were 5.2 times more likely to receive compensation for psychological injuries than other Quebec workers.

The IRSST has commissioned experts to produce an information guide with courses of action for police organizations.

Police officers regularly face multiple forms of violence and aggression, distress, and even death; consequently, their profession can have substantial impacts on their mental health. This work environment can pave the way for mental health conditions such as post-traumatic stress disorder and major

06/14/2024

The Indigenous Centre for Occupational Health & Public Safety (ICOHPS) and the IRSST signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU). It is designed to promote cooperation and joint research initiatives in order to identify, respond to and mitigate the specific health and safety issues concerning First Nations workers.
https://www.irsst.qc.ca/en/institute/medias/news-releases/id/3216/signing-of-memorandum-of-understanding-between-the-icohps-and-the-irss

Montréal, June 14th, 2024 - the Indigenous Centre for Occupational Health & Public Safety (ICOHPS) and the IRSST signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU). It is designed to promote cooperation and joint research initiatives in order to identify, respond to and mitigate the specific health

06/13/2024

Un défi vous intéresse? Joignez-vous à une équipe dynamique!

Relevant de la directrice du Service des communications, la personne élabore et met en œuvre les stratégies de relations avec les médias et de communications externes en ayant pour objectifs le maintien et l’enrichissement de l’image de l’IRSST, en plus d’assurer le rayonnement scientifi...

06/03/2024

Portable pneumatic tools can cause health problems related to noise and vibration. In Quebec, since June 16, 2023, decree 781-2021 has limited worker exposure to 85 dBA during an eight-hour day. The “Hand-Held Pneumatic Tools – Protect Your Ears and Your Hands, 2nd Edition” fact sheet takes these regulations into account to prevent the adverse health effects associated with these tools.

Hand-held pneumatic tools generate noise and vibration that, over the years, can cause harmful effects on health. The duration and intensity of exposure to noise can cause deafness, while the duration and intensity of exposure to vibration can result in Raynaud’s syndrome (fingers that turn wh

10/20/2023

We'll be taking part in the next SIAS 2024 - The 11th International Conference on Safety of Industrial Automated Systems. In 2024, this conference will be organized by the VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland, the Tampere University and Suomen Automaatioseura - Finnish Society of Automation.

Join us and get connected!

The next edition of SIAS will take place in Tampere, Finland, on June 12 and 13, 2024. In 2024, this conference will be organized by the Technical Research Center of Finland (VTT Technical Research Center of Finland), Tampere University, and Finnish Society of Automation. Take stock of the advance