Whether in a prefabricated building without air conditioning, on scaffolding, on the roof of a house or with their feet in the asphalt softened by the heat, during a heatwave, the employee is threatened by “heatstroke”, “an acute failure of thermoregulation combining major hyperthermia (body temperature above 40°C) and neurological signs and in particular: behavioral disorders, mental confusion, delirium, disturbances of consciousness, even coma”, describe the National Institute for Research and Safety for the Prevention of Work Accidents and Occupational Diseases (INRS). To avoid this, how do you protect yourself at work? The jurist Jean-Emmanuel Ray, professor of law at Paris-I-Panthéon-Sorbonne, recalls the legal framework.
Is there a maximum temperature above which the employee is exempt from working?
The labor code does not provide for a maximum temperature threshold for working. The INRS, however, indicates three risk thresholds for the health of employees: 28°C for physical work, 30°C for office work, 33°C beyond which the risks increase vertically.
What kind of precautions can the employer take?
You must first use common sense. In construction, for example, by having employees work during cooler hours, by organizing task rotations or by increasing the frequency of breaks. And that the breaks are taken in an air-conditioned space, as this allows the body to recover its temperature. The labor code specifies that employees must have fresh drinking water at their disposal and that closed premises must be ventilated. When particular working conditions lead employees to drink frequently, the employer must provide them with at least one non-alcoholic drink.
Under what conditions can an employee exercise their right of withdrawal?
As soon as he has reasonable grounds to believe that there is a serious and imminent danger to his health. Which is very subjective, because someone with a large build is, for example, much more sensitive to heat than another. This right of withdrawal can also be exercised collectively, which has more weight. Whatever happens, the employee continues to be paid. But, even in the event of a heat wave, the employee is not entitled to total freedom of dress. There Cédric M. jurisprudence from 2003 bears witness to this: salesman, he was fired for coming to work in Bermuda shorts.
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