Congebec wins the PROACTION award at the CNESST 2025 Grand Prix!
Front row, from left to right: Geneviève Perron, Chantal Beaulieu, Catherine Lambert, Estelle Alberti
Back row, from left to right: Laurent Barcelo, Michael Bernier, Caroline Bélanger, Vincent Fortin, Claude Tremblay, François Cantin, and Sébastien Maranda.
Congebec is a multi-temperature food logistics company covering six provinces, with headquarters in Quebec. With the help of a board of directors that prioritizes health and safety, Congebec has standardized occupational health and safety policies and procedures and training monitoring, implemented a zero-accident goal, and increased health and safety awareness activities.
To ensure that workers also prioritize this HS culture and the achievement of zero accidents, Congebec has developed an HS governance plan. This plan provides a framework for the various HS modules and initiatives within the company, guides managers in establishing an HS corporate culture, and motivates employees through recognition activities. The HS governance plan is disseminated through strong internal communication: newsletters, emails, internal training, implementation of new practices supported by documentation such as company policies and procedures, etc.
Activities include: the appointment of an internal audit and health and safety risk assessment advisor, the implementation ofa platform providing easy access to all training tools, the implementation of the STOP program, which recognizes and raises the profile of vigilant workers, and the Gabriel Award, presented each year to the facility with the best performance in terms of health and safety and quality assurance. A certificate is also awarded to the facility that has made the most improvement annually in overall regulatory compliance.
By promoting a two-way approach to health and safety, Congebec is successfully implementing an HS culture: management and board members provide a national vision of health and safety, while workers contribute their expertise in risk assessment and the investigation of recent incidents and near misses.
Congebec has successfully met the challenge of implementing a uniform national health and safety culture despite the regional specificities of 16 warehouses located in six different provinces.
Chantal Beaulieu, internal audit and HS risk assessment consultant at Congebec for 20 years, has reached the final of the CNESST Grand Prix LEADER award. She played a key role in overhauling the HS department, standardizing the incident investigation process and implementing nationwide monitoring tools. She also strengthened training for workers and HS committee members, promoting a better understanding of the process. In addition, she took over the management of weekly safety bulletins, which has raised employee awareness. Her positive impact can be measured by the thoroughness of investigations, improved statistical monitoring and, above all, increased worker confidence in the process. Congebec commends her leadership and exemplary commitment to health and safety.
The HS governance plan stems from an initiative by France Pomerleau, President, Congebec inc. and was drafted by Catherine Lambert, Corporate and Government Relations Assistant Director, following interviews with several stakeholders, including Susan Lee, Leader, Talent and Culture and Professor at the University of Health and Safety, and Estelle Alberti, Leader, Congebec Education.
This governance plan was then submitted to the executive committee and approved by Congebec’s board of directors. Susan Lee implemented the program defined in the HS governance plan, with the collaboration of Danielle Cantin, Brand Ambassador and Communication.
The Gabriel Award is a program managed by the quality assurance team. The health and safety elements audited for the award were defined by the HS team, and training was provided to the quality assurance team to ensure a thorough understanding of each point of the audit.
Chantal Beaulieu, internal audit and HS risk assessment advisor, initiated the investigation of all recent incidents. Of course, this could not have been achieved without the active participation of employees, HS committee members, and management.
Finally, the information access platform was implemented by the Congebec Education department team, with support from the communications team and the IT team.
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Congebec wins the PROACTION award at the CNESST 2025 Grand Prix!
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