RBQ glossary: letter H

Health and safety coordinator (coordonnateur en santé et en sécurité)

A manager of the principal contractor assigned full time to the site. The principal contractor must designate one when work begins if at least 100 construction workers will be present at the same time, or if the total cost of the work exceeds the indexed threshold set by the Act (LSST, s. 215.1). The coordinator takes part in the prevention program, oversees the coordination of employers and investigates accidents (s. 215.2). He or she must hold a training attestation of at least 240 hours (S-2.1, r. 8.2, s. 17).

See also: Principal contractor (maître d’œuvre), Job-site committee (comité de chantier), Health and safety representative (représentant en santé et en sécurité), Site prevention program

Safety management examSource: LégisQuébec, S-2.1, art. 215.1

Health and safety representative (représentant en santé et en sécurité)

On a construction site where at least 10 construction workers will be present at the same time, at least one representative is designated when work begins, by a majority of the workers (LSST, s. 209). The representative inspects the workplace, investigates accidents, helps workers exercise their rights and takes part in a refusal (s. 210). He or she takes at least 3 hours of training (S-2.1, r. 8.2, s. 14). From 100 workers, or depending on the cost of the work, full-time representatives are required (s. 212.1).

See also: Job-site committee (comité de chantier), Health and safety coordinator (coordonnateur en santé et en sécurité), Prevention mechanisms specific to construction sites (mécanismes de prévention), Right to refuse (droit de refus)

Safety management examSource: LégisQuébec, S-2.1, art. 209

Health professional in charge (professionnel de la santé qui a charge)

The health professional an injured worker chooses for care (LATMP, s. 192). The first one to take charge of the worker issues a certificate with the diagnosis and the expected date or period of consolidation (s. 199). The CNESST is bound by this professional’s medical conclusions, unless they are contested and referred to the Bureau d’évaluation médicale (s. 224). Before a 2020 amendment (S.Q. 2020, c. 6), the Act referred to the physician in charge.

See also: Bureau d’évaluation médicale (BEM), Temporary assignment of work (assignation temporaire), Claim to the CNESST (réclamation)

Safety management examSource: LégisQuébec, A-3.001, art. 199

Health Services Fund contribution (cotisation au FSS)

A contribution the employer alone pays on the wages of employees who report for work at an establishment in Québec (s. 34 of the Act respecting the Régie de l’assurance maladie du Québec). It is not deducted from the employee’s pay. Its rate depends in particular on the employer’s total payroll, and it is paid to Revenu Québec.

See also: Source deductions (retenues à la source), CNESST assessment (cotisation)

Administration examSource: LégisQuébec, R-5, art. 34

Hiring and mobility of employees (embauche et mobilité)

The rules in R-20, r. 6.1 on choosing construction employees. As a rule, the employer must first hire competency certificate holders domiciled in the region where the work is done (s. 35). If none is available, preference then goes to other candidates, including employees from other regions. This regulation is recommended reading for the Administration exam but is not provided at the exam.

See also: Carnet référence construction (labour-referral service), Competency certificate (certificat de compétence), Commission de la construction du Québec (CCQ)

Administration examSource: LégisQuébec, R-20, r. 6.1, art. 35

Holdback (retenue contractuelle)

An amount the client keeps back for a time from the payments owed to the contractor, to secure proper performance of the contract. The Civil Code lets the client withhold enough to fix apparent defects noted at acceptance (art. 2111), and enough to pay the workers and the other creditors entitled to a legal hypothec who gave notice of their contract, until an acquittance is provided (art. 2123). The client cannot withhold these amounts if the contractor furnishes sufficient security.

See also: Acceptance of the work (réception des travaux), Progress billing (décompte progressif), Notice of contract (dénonciation de contrat), Legal construction hypothec (hypothèque légale de la construction)

Project and site management examSource: LégisQuébec, C.C.Q., art. 2111 and 2123

Definitions written by RBQexam from the statutes and the RBQ’s pages, without reproducing their text. If in doubt, the official source prevails.