The construction site of Notre-Dame, put to sleep in March because of the epidemic of coronavirus, will resume gradually from Monday, announced Thursday April 23, the public establishment in charge of the restoration of the cathedral, burnt down in April 2019.

"In the context of the gradual resumption of activity from Monday, I ensured that the appropriate measures and procedures were implemented, in order to guarantee the respect of barrier gestures and the maintenance of social distancing" , underlines in a press release Jean-Louis Georgelin, in charge of piloting the restoration of the building. "Three stages" are planned from Monday, "with an increase in staff throughout the month of May," said the public establishment.

It will be first of all a "resumption of operation of the construction site life base", then a "resumption and completion of the works" underway in mid-March, which concern in particular the "new decontamination installations ". Finally, a "resumption of complex security works", including the removal of the damaged scaffolding and the erection of a "scaffolding for the removal of the large organ".

Health security at the heart of concerns

This decision, specifies the public establishment, was taken after thorough instruction of the conditions of recovery with the Safety and Health Protection Coordinator (CSPS) of the site, the preventers, the project management, the companies concerned and from the health security recommendations developed by the government.

"The health security of the journeymen and all the actors who work on the site has always been at the heart of my concerns", underlines General Georgelin, who adds that the procedures have been adapted "in order to guarantee the respect of the barrier gestures and the maintaining social distancing "on site due to the coronavirus epidemic.

The companions working on the site will have masks, access to hydroalcoholic gel dispensers and will benefit from "accommodation solutions" and meal delivery, specifies the public establishment.

 "A meeting of the inter-enterprise college of safety, health and working conditions (CISSCT) will be held Monday afternoon in the presence of the control bodies (Labor Inspectorate and Regional Health Insurance Fund of Ile-de-France) ", specifies the organization in its press release.

The cathedral was the victim of a fire that amazed the world on the evening of April 15, 2019. On the first anniversary of this disaster, President Emmanuel Macron confirmed his goal to rebuild the cathedral in five years.

With AFP and Reuters

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