The workers’ health and safety conference is being held on Wednesday March 13 and Thursday March 14, at the Labor Exchange in Paris. A initiative organized by the CGT, FSU and Solidaires unions, and by the Andeva, Attac, Cordistes enanger, Association-Santé-Médecine-Travail associations, in particular. And a platform was set up with a certain number of demands.
Faced with the number of work accidents in France, Benoît Martin, general secretary of the CGT Paris, responsible for occupational health, explains Wednesday on franceinfo that they are calling in particular for the strengthening “labor inspection teams”but also convictions “heaviest courts” and the “reestablishment of CHSCT”.
franceinfo: How widespread is the phenomenon of workplace accidents in France?
Benoit Martin : In terms of fatal accidents, it is a real massacre: around two deaths per day. And then, you should also know that there are approximately 700,000 work stoppages each year, due to work accidents and occupational illnesses. It really is a major phenomenon.
You talked about fatal accidents, 738 were recorded in 2022 by Health Insurance, is the figure stable?
Yes, the figure is stable and half of fatal accidents occur in construction. But it does not record fatal accidents or work accidents in general, or occupational illnesses in the public service. The civil service is counted separately, but it is difficult to get figures. It is also difficult to obtain figures for self-employed people, for example. So we don’t have the scale of the phenomenon.
“And there is a second problem, which is the under-reporting of work accidents and occupational diseases.”
Benoit Martinon franceinfo
You talked about construction, are there other sectors where people are particularly exposed? ?
There are several types of work accidents, but the serious and fatal accidents are in the construction industry. There is metallurgy, chemical industries, but also forestry work, agricultural work, fishing work. The most impressive, serious and fatal accidents are often reported in the press, moreover, in the news section.
With the Uberization of professions, are the risks increasing? ?
Yes, the risks increase, of course, especially for delivery people on two-wheelers, bicycles or scooters. There is a significant accident rate in this population. And so they mobilize regularly and it’s not just in France. This has consequences at the European level and the European Council is moving more in the direction of better recognition of salaried work, on the side of self-employed people, with the recognition of a link of subordination and against the opinion of France, from Mr. Macron, obviously, and against Germany as well. But at the European level, things tend to move in the right direction with regard to the recognition of self-employed people who could be reclassified as employees.
There is a labor code. Is the lack of controls the problem?
The absence of controls or the inadequacy of controls by the labor inspectorate.
“There is a mapping that was done recently and the lack of labor inspectors depending on the department varies greatly: from 10% to 60% of vacant jobs.”
Benoit Martinon franceinfo
There is really a lack of resources, a lack of staff which is truly glaring. This is part of our demands. We have quite a few demands, of course, but strengthening the labor inspection teams is very important.
With the increase in teleworking, do accidents tend to decrease?
There is certainly a lack of recognition there too. Obviously, you know that commuting accidents are considered work accidents, since we go to our place of work. If we stay at home, there is none, or much less. But there are other types of problems that can happen at home. Discomfort, for example, when you are in a work community with your colleagues around you, you have a better chance of getting through it than if you are at home, possibly alone. When we work remotely, we also have more distant relationships with these staff representatives and this is also another problem for the management of psychosocial risks.
Is it difficult to have your employer recognize a work accident when you are working remotely at home?
Yes, this is the case for example at Orange, which is my employer. I have a specific case in mind: someone who, during their meal break, teleworking from home, had a fire in their kitchen and was injured. But then, there is a problem of recognizing this as a work accident, of course.
A platform was set up during these meetings with a certain number of demands. In particular, you ask that the courts punish work accidents more harshly, as is the case for road violence.
Indeed, we draw a parallel between safety and health at work, and road safety. There is a lot of talk about nuclear safety at the moment. You should know that subcontracting in nuclear power is a safety, security and health problem. We also talked a lot about the Brétigny-sur-Orge trial. There too, it was a question of railway safety. Its very important. So, we need heavier sentences, we need to reduce cascading subcontracting. And of course, reinstate the CHSCT which were also abolished by the Macron orders.
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