It is an essential document, but it has only existed for a few weeks, even though the last mine in France, La Houve in Creutzwald, closed exactly twenty years ago. This is a book summarizing all the mine job descriptions, and all the carcinogenic products that the miners were confronted with. This collection, which has the title “(Re)knowledge of carcinogenic risks at work in mines”has just been published by the National Federation of Mines and Energy of the CGT.
It will have required a long work of seven yearsin order to interview former miners who worked in a wide range of professions (underground, surface, electricians, pickers, drillers, blasters, railways, etc.), and to compile data from all French mining areas: Lorraine, Nord-Pas-de-Calais, but also Alsace, Cévennes, Provence, Isère, Saône-et-Loire, in coal, uranium, slate or potash mines.
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Inform the first concerned, the minors
First of all, this collection is intended for former minors themselves: they are 40,000 to still be affiliated to the mining regime. Others are no longer there today, after having retrained in other professions. “Often, we do not know what products we have encountered, including minors“, explains Richard Caudy, from the Mines Energie federation of the CGT. “The particularity of miners is that they suffer from multiple pathologies: the air breathed, the products used, the working conditions in a confined environment or on the surface… Everything adds up, which we cannot find in other professionss”.
This collection should also be able to be used, once you have fallen ill, to have your pathology recognized as an occupational disease, although it is a real obstacle course. “There is a lack of knowledge, an omerta, and even a bad will on the part of social security organizations, which previously had empathy with the insured, and who today have pejorative and suspicious preconceptions towards the insured.“, estimates Dr Alain Carré, retired occupational physician, who participated in the development of the collection.
Richard Caudy, of the CGT, and Dr Alain Carré, retired occupational physician. © Radio France – Julie Seniura
Better information from treating doctors
This book should also be useful to doctors treating minors, who are not particularly trained in work-related illnesses, and in particular those of miners. For each profession, the compendium indicates the job description, the carcinogenic products used, and the recommended medical examinations.
The poignant reality of miners’ working conditions, with Richard Caudy and Dr. Alain Carré
The book “(Re)knowledge of carcinogenic risks at work in mines“, published by Arcane 17 editions, was printed in 2,000 copies. It is on sale at the price of 23 euros on the publisher’s websitefrom Fnac, in bookstores, or at the CGT office in Freyming-Merlebach, Tuesdays and Fridays.
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