Measures to be taken in case of contamination of an employee in professional premises

The labour code stipulates that the employer must take the necessary measures "to ensure the safety and protection of the physical and moral health of workers." It is even an obligation to achieve results.

Moreover, the employer is entitled to take binding measures to ensure the protection of the health of its staff after assessing the risk of contagion in its own company.

It should be remembered that transmission of the virus occurs through "close contact" with an already infected person, including the emission of infectious droplets during sneezing or coughing that enters the respiratory tract.

Therefore, in case of contamination of the company premises, the employer will have to take the following disinfection measures:

• Equipment of people in charge of cleaning floors and surfaces with wearing a single-use blouse, household gloves. The wearing of a respiratory protective mask is not necessary due to the absence of aerosolization by floors and surfaces;
• Floor maintenance: focus on a wet wash-disinfection strategy so that:
• Floors and surfaces are cleaned with a single-use wash headband impregnated with a detergent;
• The floors and surfaces are subsequently rinsed with water from the drinking water system with another single-use wash headband;
• A sufficient drying time of these floors and surfaces is left;
• Floors and surfaces should be disinfected with bleach diluted with a single-use wash headband different from the previous two.
• Waste produced by the infected person follows the traditional disposal process.

In these circumstances, as long as these measures are implemented by the employer (they are available and updated on the following page: https://www.gouvernement.fr/info-coronavirus), the mere fact that an employee has been infected is not sufficient, subject to the sovereign assessment of the courts, to consider that he justifies a reasonable reason to exercise his right to withdraw.

 

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