Mechanical woodwork - Health and safety

Every year, many workers continue to fall victim to work-related illnesses and accidents, and some die as a result. This situation, which is morally unacceptable, is also unacceptable in terms of the costs borne by the community.

The legislator has taken steps to reduce the number and seriousness of these attacks on workers' health, by strengthening laws and supplementing the Labor Code.

Employers' liability is thus gradually evolving from an obligation of means to an obligation of results. Case law confirms this trend.

Zero accidents and zero illnesses are now added to the well-known zero defects, zero delays, zero paperwork....

Unfortunately, there are quite a few accidents at work, and the risk incurred in woodworking companies is higher than the national average. The causes are fairly standard and differ little from those of other trades: falls and the handling of heavy or bulky objects are the main causes.

Illnesses, on the other hand, are more focused on wood, although musculoskeletal disorders and the carrying of heavy loads predominate, illnesses that are also present in other occupational sectors. These two causes account for over 80% of cases. Solutions for dealing with these pathologies are now fairly well known, even if their implementation is often left to specialists (especially for MSDs). The solution lies in analyzing each situation on a case-by-case basis.

The third cause of illness is specific to machined materials: exposure to wood dust. Even though it ranks far behind the first two in terms of the number of declared illnesses, it is the focus of attention of all those involved in the sector, due to the seriousness of the pathologies. Indeed, it is the only cause of death by disease in the woodworking professions. The number of reported cancers has been fairly stable over the last few years, at around 75 cases a year, with a fairly pessimistic prognosis for recovery.

To meet their obligations, employers need to keep abreast of these rapidly changing and increasingly complex regulations. They must also keep abreast of technological developments, which should provide them with the tools they need to meet their responsibilities more effectively. The non-application of preventive measures (or their inadequate implementation) is increasingly leading to accusations of "inexcusable fault".

Employers often find themselves in unpleasant situations due to a lack of knowledge of their obligations or of technical and organizational solutions.

The following paragraphs are designed to help them perfect their knowledge of the regulatory field, and to provide food for thought and appropriate...