Élisabeth Borne, underlined Sunday on BFMTV that certain professional activities were "hardly compatible" with the "basic rule", "very simple", which "is imposed on all" from Tuesday in the companies: "the wearing of systematic mask when there are several in an enclosed space ", to limit the spread of the coronavirus. The Minister of Labor thus suggested that "flexibilities" were possible.
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"We will identify them, we will meet them"
"We will identify with the social partners" the "activities which, by nature, are hardly compatible with wearing a mask" and "we will look at the answers we can provide," said Élisabeth Borne. "The sectors which have particular difficulties" with the systematic wearing of the mask, "we will identify them, we will meet them", added the minister, recalling that a decree had already been taken to exempt "the singers from opera "wearing a mask.
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"Wearing the mask systematically in business, it is very important when there is more than one, it is very important to protect yourself, to protect your colleagues and to protect your loved ones", underlined the Minister, relying on the recommendations of the High Council of Public Health (HCSP). This High Council "defined a series of measures on ventilation, the volumes of the spaces", the Plexiglas protections, the distance between colleagues, she listed. There are "a lot of criteria", which will be "shared tomorrow (Monday) with the social partners", she added.
Possible flexibility for premises with "very good ventilation"
"When we put all these measures in place, then we can have flexibility in the systematic nature of wearing a mask," she explained. Thus, in premises with "very good ventilation", "in large volumes", such as "for example here" in the studio of BFMTV, "at a great distance" from his colleagues, or "if you have plexiglass", employees will be able, "at certain times of the day, to remove the mask". But "in traffic, meeting rooms, you have to wear a mask," she said.
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Élisabeth Borne replied without a mask to three unmasked journalists on the channel set. “Obviously, if you're all alone in your office, you don't have to put on a mask,” she noted.
The case of workshops and open spaces
Among "special cases", there are "workshops", such as "garages", where "you are required to make physical efforts" and where employees may be "exempt from wearing a mask" if "the workshop is well ventilated ", with" colleagues (who) are far, "detailed the minister.
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In "shared offices, open spaces", "if we have all the right rules", employees will be able "at certain times to remove the mask", for example to "breathe ten minutes", she noted. Or if "your colleagues have gone to the canteen, there are some of you who have stayed, you can take off your mask."