As life gradually resumes its course, employers are asking for a reduction in the health protocol in force in companies to speed up the recovery. In question: “extremely heavy” constraints.
The indicators are green. In the acceleration of the deconfinement of France, several sectors are concerned, such as education and catering. Why not businesses? In an interview published on June 9 in The echoesthe president of Medef (Movement of French companies) Geoffroy Roux de Bézieux believes that “the government must tell the French that it is time to return to work and consume”. In order to speed up the return to normal, he asks “a review and streamlining of the 60 emergency health protocols put in place during confinement for businesses”.
The “binding” rule of the 4m surface2 per person
“The President of the Republic has given us a beautiful color: everyone is going green. But our constraints remain the same in terms of the health rules to be applied”also considers François Asselin, the president of the Confederation of small and medium-sized enterprises (CPME), questioned by franceinfo June 15. He thus mentions several constraints “extremely heavy”such as the obligation to respect a perimeter of 4m2 per person.
François Asselin illustrates his remarks with the case of a workshop. “[S’il ne vous] not allow everyone to be rehired because of these constraints, your business has a severely degraded activity”, he assures. Especially since the surface of 4m2 is calculated taking into account real estate dimensions, such as shelving. For example, in a 700m open-space2 with 50 desks of 2m2 of surface each, a meeting room of 100m² and 3 small isolation rooms of 30m² each, only 33 of the 50 people who worked there before the crisis can now go there at the same time.
The use of “organizational collective protection solutions”
For the moment, some exceptions are tolerated. “When, and only when, certain situations (in principle reduced to the maximum by application of collective measures) involve an uncontrollable risk of accidental breach of this distance (including by non-compliance by the user/employee himself) , additional measures such as wearing a mask ‘General public’ are to be put in place”can we read in the national deconfinement protocol for businesses.
The provision of personal protective equipment (PPE), such as visors, masks and gloves, can also be restrictive. Similarly, to ensure proper compliance with the rules of physical distancing, companies must use “organizational collective protection solutions”such as the difference in schedules and the duplication of teams.
“We will have to discuss it with the professional organizations”
Asked by franceinfo on the subject on June 15, Bruno Le Maire was categorical: “For the moment, [les règles sanitaires] don’t change”. Nevertheless, it is possible to see the prospect of relief in the coming weeks. “Will tomorrow it be possible to look at one point or another of these protocols? Yes, certainlyconsidered the Minister of the Economy. We will have to discuss it with the professional organizations and see if there are adaptations that are possible, which do not pose problems from a health point of view, and which make it possible to alleviate the constraints..
A point that particularly worries the union of employees. “Health must be preserved, only the opinion of scientists and doctors counts. We must remain vigilantinsists Philippe Martinez, the secretary general of the CGT (General Confederation of Labour), also questioned by franceinfo. We believe that health takes precedence over the economy”.
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