Go back to work, yes but how? The building sector, with its million employees in France and its thousands of sites left on stand-by since mid-March, is asking the question every day. Employee health security is the key. Fear of the virus is still a reality in professions where promiscuity is de rigueur.
The guide to good practice published at the start of April by the Professional Organization for the Prevention of Building and Public Works (OPPBTP) gives guidance, but appears insufficient for many companies. “This guide gives the basics, but each company can adapt it,” says Stéphane Wambst. The boss of CEP (51 employees, in Thionville) struggled to push the process further. He used his general practitioner to develop a house procedure. Emphasis is placed on compliance with hygiene measures, which is not necessarily obvious on a construction site.
“We have no choice but to adapt and above all reassure our employees. We are playing the business’s survival ”
“A total change of mentality awaits us. All our employees will be trained from Monday, in small groups, “said the manager. Training in barrier gestures, wearing a mask and gloves, disinfecting equipment, appointing a Covid-19 referent for each site… “We have no choice but to adapt and above all reassure our employees. We are playing the business’s survival, “says Stéphane Wambst.
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Soft restart
With the construction specialist Costantini, the recovery is experiencing a double trigger. First there was Luxembourg (450 employees) last Monday. Health questionnaire for all employees, medical examination in case of any doubt; new health regulations, including the wearing of a mask (60,000 ordered 10,000 received to date); provision of additional water points and maximum social distancing (two people per transport seat): an entire organization has been reviewed. The return to work seems to be organized there with less apprehension than in Lorraine. “The country is smaller, there have been fewer fatal cases. We feel a dynamic that there is not yet in Lorraine “, observes Christophe Zauli, director of the company.
Despite everything, the French entity of Costantini aims to return to work within three weeks. In the meantime, a state guaranteed loan has been applied for to overcome the turbulent period. “We did it for safety. We will measure the extent of the difficulties this summer, “said the leader.
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