CNESST urges employers to reassess jobsite hazards
Construction workers in Quebec return to a period associated with higher workplace injury numbers in the weeks immediately following the province’s annual construction holiday, according to the Commission des normes, de l’équité, de la santé et de la sécurité du travail (CNESST).
The provincial workplace health and safety agency says occupational injuries have historically increased by an average of 16% during the four weeks after the construction holiday compared with the four weeks immediately before it, prompting a renewed call for employers and workers to assess hazards as work resumes.
“Over the past few years, the CNESST has observed in Quebec an average 16% increase in occupational injuries during the four weeks following the construction holiday, compared with the four weeks preceding the construction holiday,” said Allison Ouellet, communications officer for the CNESST. The quote has been translated from French.
The increase comes in an industry that employed 203,032 workers in Quebec in 2025, according to the Commission de la construction du Québec (CCQ). Construction workers logged about 216 million hours during the year.
CNESST data show the construction sector recorded 9,608 occupational injuries in 2025, the third-highest total among Quebec industries. Health care and social assistance recorded 21,819 injuries, while manufacturing recorded 17,061.
As activity resumes, the CNESST is asking employers and workers to identify and analyze hazards on construction sites, implement measures to address them and ensure those measures remain in place.
The agency says employers should prioritize prevention measures that eliminate hazards at their source where possible. Other measures can include replacing hazardous materials or processes, introducing engineering controls or warning systems, implementing administrative measures and providing personal protective equipment.
“To increase the effectiveness of prevention, the employer must choose measures that come as close as possible to eliminating the hazard at the source. The further the selected prevention measures move away from this approach, the more effort is required to keep them in place,” the CNESST said in a statement translated from French.
Quebec’s construction safety requirements also place specific prevention obligations on larger worksites. A site-specific prevention program is required when at least 10 construction workers are expected to be present at the same time. Where at least 20 workers are expected to be on a site simultaneously, the principal contractor must also submit the prevention program to the CNESST before work begins.
The program is intended to identify workplace hazards and establish measures aimed at eliminating them at the source or otherwise controlling workers’ exposure. Other prevention mechanisms, including health and safety representatives, site committees and health and safety co-ordinators, may also be required depending on the size and scope of a construction project.
