Labor standards and public health officials are to conduct an inspection of Sophie-Barat high school in Montreal this week. After a long battle, a teacher at this school with a lung disease got an air purifier in his classroom — a rarity in Quebec. The tests that will be done aim to ensure that the establishment is healthy for students and staff.
According to what The duty has learned, representatives of the Commission for Standards, Equity, Health and Safety at Work (CNESST) and Montreal Public Health are to visit the school’s main pavilion in the coming hours. of the Ahuntsic district.
Our sources indicate that the CNESST has received a complaint about the “presence of asbestos and mold” in this more than 100-year-old establishment. The building is also in a sorry state: part of the main building was closed in the fall of 2020 because it was in danger of collapsing; its cafeteria and library were condemned. Dozens of students have to be educated elsewhere.
According to our sources, repair and stabilization work on the outer envelope of block A (east section) should begin in mid-October. The planned renovations are for a period of 30 months. “Everything is conditional on the awarding of the contract at the end of the public call for tenders process which is in progress,” confirmed Alain Perron, spokesperson for the Center de services scolaire de Montréal (CSSDM).
Pending the renovations and expansion of this public school – a colossal project of 164.5 million dollars, the latest news – the health authorities will conduct checks to ensure that the building is healthy.
“You should know that all organizations are subject to CNESST inspections. The CSSDM cooperates fully with the inspectors when they come to visit the various workplaces. If recommendations are made at the end of these visits, we make sure to implement them. It should be noted that the CO2 are compliant in the main pavilion,” Mr. Perron also points out.
The Alliance of Teachers of Montreal says it is monitoring the situation closely and supporting its members struggling with health problems.
“Exceptional Situations”
The teacher Michel Stringer is delighted with the intervention of the CNESST. He is also satisfied to finally have the right to an air purifier in his class, as well as an N95 mask and a plexiglass panel. This teacher who has been teaching for 25 years at the Sophie-Barat school suffers from hypersensitivity interstitial pneumopathy, which leads to fibrosis of the lungs. He also suffered long-term effects from a COVID-19 infection. His doctors are still trying to determine the causes of the weakening of his lungs.
Engineer Stéphane Bilodeau, independent expert in ventilation, is delighted with the openness of the CSSDM to install air purifiers in the classroom. “It’s encouraging, I’m optimistic. It remains to be seen what will be the “exceptional situations” that will pave the way for air purifiers, ”he reacted.
According to him, this portable equipment is relevant to protect people with a chronic illness or a fragile immune system, like Mr. Stringer. The presence of purifiers is also justified in premises where the air quality is poor, regardless of the health of the occupants.
“The UN decreed this summer that air quality must be considered a human right,” he recalls. The United Nations actually passed a resolution affirming the right to a healthy environment.
Patricia Clermont, of the movement I protect my public school (JPMEP), recalls that “public confidence in air quality in schools has been shaken” by the controversy surrounding the way the tests were carried out, in 2021 , under the leadership of the Ministry of Education. The method put in place by the experts of the ministry was challenged by other specialists in the matter.
In addition, the ministry maintains its position: air purifiers are ill-suited to the school context, in premises with dozens of people. “The airflows generated by this device could promote the dissemination of viruses and create a false sense of security,” reiterates Esther Chouinard, spokesperson for the Ministry of Education.
The JPMEP movement calls for “an inventory, a dashboard that takes stock of the school buildings to be built or renovated”. Parents and staff have a hard time knowing their school’s air and water quality beyond the waves of the pandemic, argues Ms.me Clermont.