This text is part of the special Acfas awards
Each year, the Robert-Sauvé Research Institute in Occupational Health and Safety (IRSST) awards two prizes to emerging researchers.
Measure and prevent the effects of high noise among workers
Alexis Pinsonnault-Skvarenina, Acfas IRSST Prize – Doctorate
Nearly 400,000 Quebec workers are exposed to noise every day that poses a risk of hearing damage. Globally, 16% of deafness problems are caused by noise in the workplace. Alexis Pinsonnault-Skvarenina’s doctoral project aims to detect the destruction of synapses of sensory cells in the inner ear and auditory nerve fibers, but also to prevent this degradation called synaptopathy, or “hidden hearing loss”. Currently, clinical tools only detect hearing health disorders in the individual when it is too late. The winner seeks to put in place safe practices in order to reduce the harmful effects of noise, to offer the occupational health community early detection tools, to possibly rethink regulatory noise limits as well as to improve conditions. workers and the care of those affected by this pathology.
His expertise, his commitment and his leadership in the defense and promotion of hearing health services have enabled him to be a reference for the Association québécoise des orthophonistes et des audiologistes as well as for the Ordre des orthophonistes et des audiologistes du Québec. . His career has notably led him to work on the impact of construction noise at the Turcot interchange and on the effects of health measures on the communication of hearing-impaired people during the pandemic, two major projects for which he is the coordinator. of research.
Winner of the excellence award from the professional association Speech-Language Pathology and Audiology Canada in 2016 and numerous scholarships as part of his university career, Alexis Pinsonnault-Skvarenina, doctoral candidate in speech-language pathology and audiology at the University of Montreal is considered the most promising researcher in the field. Jean-Pierre Gagné, professor emeritus of the School of speech therapy and audiology of the Faculty of Medicine of the same university, even believes that, “in the near future, Alexis Pinsonnault-Skvarenina will make himself known as a top researcher. international level ”.
Decrease the body heat of firefighters during fires
Marie-Anne Landry-Duval, Acfas IRSST prize – Master’s
During fires, firefighters exert considerable physical effort in extreme heat. To protect themselves, they wear personal protective clothing (VIP) typical of their profession. But if this garment protects them from heat, it also paradoxically increases their internal temperature. The addition of these external stresses to which they are exposed, such as the heat of the flames and the weight of the equipment, can lead to heat stress. However, these thermal and physiological constraints are associated with an increased risk of cardiovascular accidents, the most frequent cause of death among firefighters.
The research of Marie-Anne Landry-Duval, candidate for a master’s degree in physical activity sciences, ergonomics profile, at the University of Quebec in Montreal and winner of the Acfas IRSST prize – Occupational health and safety in the “Masters” category Aim to find innovative solutions to prevent these consequences associated with heat stress in firefighters.
“Among the three layers that make up the VIPs, the barrier membrane is the intermediate layer, one of whose roles is to allow the evaporation of sweat to promote effective cooling of the body”, we can read in its application file . The use of new technologies, developed to reduce thermophysiological constraints, could decrease the heat inside the VIP.
Marie-Anne Landry-Duval is also working for the construction sector on improving the comfort of safety harnesses and on the effects associated with wearing a filter mask during winter constraints. She is also interested in devices worn on the wrists by athletes and has led end-to-end research on performance between omnivores and vegans, the results of which received great media coverage in the spring of 2020.
Marie-Anne Landry-Duval is described by her peers as a young researcher demonstrating “originality, initiative, leadership, autonomy, as well as a particularly developed analytical and critical mind”. Those who rub shoulders with her on a daily basis have no doubts about her exceptional potential to meet the challenges that will be offered to her.