- This Tuesday, the government delivers the first details on the evolution of the health framework in companies in order to limit the progression of the Covid-19: the new rules, which will be specified in the coming days, will come into force from September 1 .
- As the start of the school year approaches, the objective "is to allow a resumption of activity in good safety conditions for all employees", underlined the Secretary of State in charge of occupational health and pensions, Laurent Pietraszewski.
- 20 Minutes takes stock of the evolution of health rules, and in particular what the compulsory wearing of a mask means.
Finished, the protocol of “deconfinement”. From September 1, new health rules, published in the coming days, will apply in companies. In order to stem the acceleration of the pandemic and following the recommendations of the High Council of Public Health, the government makes it compulsory to wear a mask at work, as an enclosed place. According to the latest figures from Public Health France, 24% of "clusters", or sources of contamination, are located in companies, excluding medical establishments. 20 Minutes takes stock of the new rules and their consequences which were clarified on Tuesday.
In which places will the mask be compulsory?
The wearing of the mask will be systematized from September 1 in closed and shared spaces within companies and associations. It will also be declined in the public service. The meeting rooms, open spaces, corridors, locker rooms, or even shared offices will therefore be concerned… It will therefore be necessary to wear the mask, even seated at his workstation. The only exception: individual offices, where the wearing of a mask will not be imposed, as long as there is only one person present.
If I am working in an open space, but being very far from a colleague, do I still have to wear the mask? Can having partitions or plexiglass windows dispense with wearing a mask?
Yes, that will indeed be the rule… And it will be impossible to substitute a plexiglass protection for the wearing of a mask, in the absence of scientific certainty recognized by the High Council of Public Health on this subject. A position that the government justifies by the risk of contamination by aerosols. "If we [are] two in the open space, we will wear masks," confirmed Laurent Pietraszewski, Secretary of State for Pensions and Occupational Health, during a press briefing.
However, flexibility is not excluded in the future, underlines the Secretary of State, acknowledging that the subject can be debated. "This is why it seems important to us (...) to study the modalities of a referral to the High Council for Public Health on the possible conditions of adaptation of this new measure and therefore we will, with the partners social, work on how we want to question the High Council, ”says the Secretary of State.
Will there be exceptions to these sanitary rules?
If there are no "technical constraints that prevent working with a mask," recalls the Secretary of State, it leaves the door open to adaptations of the protocol, a priori by professional branches. The High Council of Public Health will have to decide on these adaptations.
But conversely, certain sectors - to be determined - where the risks of the virus spreading are higher, as is the case in slaughterhouses, could be the subject of specific and additional measures.
What sanctions can you expose yourself to if you do not wear a mask?
The employer is responsible for the health and safety of workers. As such, if an employee refuses to wear the mask, he can be sanctioned by the company.
Do we always have to respect the physical distance meter?
If wearing a mask should in theory prevent the transmission of the virus by projections and aerosols, the fact remains that the physical distance meter imposed with the deconfinement protocol will remain a standard, said Laurent Pietraszewski.
Can telework be made compulsory?
Made compulsory during confinement, teleworking will not again be imposed on companies at the start of the school year. It therefore remains “recommended”. "We invited the social partners to think about establishing long-term teleworking as a new way of organizing work, and also to think about adaptations during a period of epidemic peak", recalls Laurent Pietraszewski.
At the end of their consultations on this subject in September, unions and employers' organizations will say their wish (or not) to negotiate on telework.
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