Access routes clogged with concentrate, inefficient ventilation, inadequate maintenance of electrical systems: alerted by employees, the Administrative Labor Court imposes on Glencore, owner of the Horne Foundry, to make corrections to the concentrate unloading and handling sector.
Open in full screen mode
The Administrative Labor Tribunal makes a series of recommendations to the Horne Foundry so that it improves dust management.
Speech synthesis, based on artificial intelligence, makes it possible to generate spoken text from of a written text.
A judgment from the Administrative Labor Tribunal (TAT) rendered on October 23, following a complaint from an employee representative, identifies several shortcomings regarding the health and safety of workers at the Horne Foundry in Rouyn- Noranda.
Mainly, the management of contaminated dust would not have been adequate and this dust could have been dispersed outside the factory.
This decision, of which Radio-Canada has become aware, allows us to know more about the operations inside the Horne Foundry. Several testimonies, the vast majority from employees and executives of the Glencore company, explain the details of certain operations. The photos accompanying this report were submitted as evidence during the hearings.
We are extremely happy with the decision. We finally feel heard. We will be able to ensure that our workers will have a working environment that is much healthier, because, in the mining concentrate and in the products that we process, there are precious metals, but that also comes with contaminants. Even though we have individual protection systems, it's not 100% effective, says Shawn Smith, who was a prevention representative at the Horne Foundry workers' union when the complaint was filed. complaint. He is now vice president of grievances.
Air quality in Rouyn-Noranda
Consult the complete file
Air quality in Rouyn-Noranda
View full file
FollowFollow
In August 2021, Horne Foundry workers notice unusual accumulations of dust in the concentrate unloading area.
This is where the recycled materials and other inputs arrive which will be melted down to extract the minerals, mainly copper. According to what we can read in the judgment, this material may also contain arsenic, beryllium, lead and other contaminants harmful to health.
Employees complain to their union's prevention representative, Shawn Smith, on August 23, 2021. A worker mentions to him:
[…] it's nonsense when unloading the concentrates, the passageways are blocked, the dust falls from the conveyors.
A quote from Extract from the decision of the Administrative Labor Court
Open in full screen mode
Accumulation of dust prevents closing from this door. “This dust is dispersed by the wind outside the factory,” we can read in the judgment.
The prevention representative then requests a meeting with an inspector from the Commission for Standards, Equity, Health and Social Services (CNESST).
The latter went to the factory a few days later, on September 9, but did not make a field visit. Instead, she meets with union representatives and employer representatives in a conference room.
The union representative shows him photos he took in the previous days. The hygiene superintendent ensures that the Foundry complies with its dust control program.
Following this meeting, the CNESST inspector issued no exemption, that is to say no requirements for Glencore to resolve the situation. This is what the prevention representative contests before the Administrative Labor Court.
The judge of the TAT, François Aubé, has the mandate to analyze each of the points raised by the union to determine whether it should issue exemptions.
Photos filed in evidence demonstrate dust accumulations of several centimeters .
In the photos taken on August 25, 2021, we see a pile of dust more than 2 feet high and a few meters long located below a funnel (grizzly) which receives the copper concentrates by the excavator. By observing the photo, the Court considers that it is difficult to step over the piles without getting bogged down in the dust, we can read in the judgment.
Open in full screen mode
An accumulation of concentrates blocks a route of passage.
Red ribbons have been installed in a few places to indicate clusters of dust.
It is not conceivable that instead of clearing the passageways, we prefer to put yellow or red ribbons or that we allow the accumulation of concentrates invade the thoroughfares as the photos unequivocally demonstrate, concludes judge François Aubé.
Open in full screen mode
A red ribbon has been installed on a conveyor.
The judge adds that it is the responsibility of the employer and not of the employees to ensure the safety of the workplace.
It therefore issues a first exemption: the employer does not ensure that the floors and access routes are kept clean and clear in the concentrate unloading sector.
Another complaint from the prevention representative concerns a sprinkler system intended to prevent dust from being blown outside by the wind .
The permanent sprinkler system is no longer functional. Glencore therefore installed a temporary system, which, in the opinion of workers, is not effective. The concentrates can therefore be dispersed in the courtyard, but also as far as the Notre-Dame district, located near the Horne Foundry.
This observation is worrying the union since workers do not wear masks outside buildings.
From the evidence […], the temporary sprinkler system put in place by the employer is not effective. It does not adequately and safely control the concentrates which can be carried away and dispersed by the wind outside the concentrate department while the workers do not wear the respiratory mask and the concentrates can contain several contaminants such as sulfur, beryllium, arsenic, lead and silica, considers Judge Aubé in his decision.
Open in full screen mode
Arsenic, beryllium and other contaminants can be found in dust dispersed outdoors.
The TAT thus issues a second exemption , asking the Foundry to maintain a functional sprinkler system.
The Court issues a third exemption, considering that the employer does not ensure that the emission of a contaminant does not harm the health and safety of workers and does not reduce exposure to a minimum.
Judge François Aubé comes to this conclusion because of the state of a device supposed to capture dust, the DCOL 65.
Open in full screen mode
The DCOL 65 is the equivalent of a huge wall-mounted vacuum cleaner that captures dust.
< p class="StyledBodyHtmlParagraph-sc-48221190-4 hnvfyV">The prevention representative believes that it cannot be functional due to the excessive presence of dust.
Other dust collection and air purification equipment is defective according to the testimony of the union representative.
The TAT concludes that it is difficult to imagine that the DCOL 65 capture system adequately fulfills its functions while its suction slots are clogged by large deposits of concentrates.
While taking photos at the end of summer 2021, the prevention representative also noticed dust deposits in an electrical distribution room.
Open in full screen mode
The presence of dust on these electrical systems can cause electric arcs.
This room must generally be equipped with an air intake system to maintain positive pressure and avoid dust dispersion.
Even though he indicates that he is not an expert, the prevention representative maintains in his testimony that dust from metal concentrates can cause electric arcs.
The employer's representative maintains that the copper concentrate is not flammable.
The judge rules: the Foundry does not comply the regulations in force.
Considering the significant presence of dust on the electrical components of room 170 in September 2021, that the evidence does not allow us to conclude that the situation has been corrected and that there is a risk of combustion, there is reason to conclude that the situation contravenes regulations and standards, we can read in the judgment of October 23, 2023.
In total, the Administrative Tribunal of work issues five exemptions and returns the file to the CNESST so that it can follow up on the recommendations.
At the time of publication, neither Horne Foundry management nor the union had responded to our interview requests.
The workers' union is satisfied with this judgment and is already seeing improvements.
We see it a bit like a case law, because although we have several buildings on the entire site, it is still designed more or less in the same way: we have electrical distribution rooms everywhere , we have conveyor systems everywhere, foam jets everywhere. So if we ever see that the same type of breakage occurs, we will be able to use our judgment to make things happen, concludes Shawn Smith.
At the time of publication, Horne Foundry management had not responded to our interview requests.
Teilor Stone has been a reporter on the news desk since 2013. Before that she wrote about young adolescence and family dynamics for Styles and was the legal affairs correspondent for the Metro desk. Before joining Thesaxon , Teilor Stone worked as a staff writer at the Village Voice and a freelancer for Newsday, The Wall Street Journal, GQ and Mirabella. To get in touch, contact me through my teilor@nizhtimes.com 1-800-268-7116
