The protection of employees exposed to electromagnetic waves within companies is now reinforced by a decree which has just been published.
The protection of employees against electromagnetic waves is being reinforced. From January 1, 2017, companies will have to deploy measures to limit the level of exposure of their workers, through multiple sources (smartphones, tablets, electrical devices, etc.). A decree published this Saturday specifies the modalities of implementation.
The text covers workers exposed to static electric fields, static and electric magnetic fields, time varying magnetic and electromagnetic fields, whose frequencies range from 0 hertz to 300 gigahertz. It transposes a European directive issued in 2013.
Evaluate, inform, monitor
Companies will have to assess the risks and include the results in a single risk assessment document available to employees. If the company exceeds the threshold, it will have to put in place a “graduated approach”, indicates the decree. That is to say, limit as much as possible the exposure to electromagnetic waves of its employees by adapting their workstation.
“When an exposure in excess of the exposure limit values is detected or when an undesirable or unexpected health effect likely to result from exposure to electromagnetic fields is reported by a worker, the latter shall benefit from” a medical examination ”, provides for the decree.
The employer will also have the obligation to designate a person “responsible for ensuring the function of advising on the prevention of risks associated with electromagnetic fields”. In addition, exhibition areas must be signposted and, if necessary, their access will be limited. The decree also sets the rules to be observed for companies that have no alternatives to exposure to electromagnetic waves.
Pregnant women and minors
Pregnant women are particularly targeted by this text. Their exposure to waves must be “kept at a level as low as is reasonably possible to achieve, taking into account the recommendations of existing good practice, and in any event at a level below the exposure limit values of the public to electromagnetic fields ”, specifies the decree. Likewise, workers under the age of 18 cannot be exposed to magnetic fields that exceed the values fixed by the decree.
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