the recommendations of the Economic, Social and Environmental Council

2023-04-26 11:00:07

If companies do not anticipate the effects of global warming on their employees, they must be deprived of public aid. This is one of the striking recommendations made by the Economic, Social and Environmental Council (CESE) in an opinion it adopted on Tuesday 25 April, ” unanimously “ with 125 votes for – 50 members did not take part in the vote. The assembly of the palace of Iéna, in Paris, judges ” necessary “ to ring the « mobilisation » general to raise the “ecological challenges” In the working world.

Coordinated by Jean-François Naton, member of the CGT group at the CESE, the opinion delivered on Tuesday focuses “on exposure to strong heat waves”. Are, of course, concerned persons exercising their activity ” outside “either “about 3.6 million” of women and men. A third of skilled workers and a quarter of agents employed in local authorities are in this situation.

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The “repetition of heat waves”for several years, translates into “the appearance of new occupational risks” and by “aggravation” of those that already exist: “major hyperthermia” coupled with “heart trouble” and at one “neurological distress”increased likelihood of accidents related to “loss of vigilance”higher frequency of cases “chemical poisoning” et “allergic reaction” attributable to high temperatures… If the “epidemiological data” on this theme are lacking in France, international research shows an increase “of the mortality and above all of the overall morbidity of the populations of workers (…) during the summer ».

Take out the stick

Such problems arise with more or less marked acuteness depending on the sector. Construction and agriculture are obviously on the front line, but there are also transport companies (truck drivers, movers, etc.), as well as the teams responsible for “outdoor infrastructure works”. The EESC notes that “the professional categories that have to suffer the most from heat waves are also those for which the risk of accident (…) has long been identified as important”. In other words, it’s double jeopardy for them. The opinion also emphasizes “the risk of seeing inequalities in work (…) deepen further in the context of climate change and the degradation of ecosystems”.

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In preparing its opinion, the assembly of the Palais d’Iéna carried out a survey which targets representatives of employees and employers (private and public). From this consultation, which received nearly 2,000 « contributions »a “considerable discrepancy” between growing concern about global warming and “the feeling that concrete responses commensurate with this challenge have not been provided”. “While 80% of respondents make this subject a personal concern, they are only a little more than a third to indicate [qu’il] is the order of the day in their workplace”the EESC notes.

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