Thursday March 1st, 2018
The days have been getting longer over the last few weeks in France, but temperatures remain stubbornly low. In these conditions, working outside can be difficult. The cold creates health and safety risks at construction sites. Now, more than ever, prevention and vigilance are essential.
Temperatures have plunged overnight. At the Tour Alto construction site in the La Défense district on the edge of Paris, Fabrice Jouan, the logistics and general services manager from Construction Privée (Bouygues Bâtiment Ile-de-France) makes sure that it is safe for site workers to move about and access their stations before anyone begins working. “Any risk of an employee slipping or falling needs to be addressed,” he explained while checking that lighting levels were sufficient.
Organising sites so that site workers can take breaks out of the cold, making sure that there is plenty of warm food and drink available, trying to reorganise the work so that as much of it as possible takes place indoors… These are some of the steps that construction sites take to limit cold exposure, which can cause fatigue, numbness, loss of dexterity, or even hypothermia. All of our entities regularly issue information flashes about extreme cold, and the Health, Safety, and Risk Prevention department publishes and distributes risk prevention sheets about working in such conditions.
We’re also adapting in terms of the personal protective equipment we use: Distrimo provides clothing that is adapted to extreme cold: insulating glove liners, hoods and hats that can be worn with a helmet, wool mufflers that don’t retain dampness, slippers, soles, and more, enough to cover up from head to toe to the tips of your fingers so that your extremities, which allow heat to escape, are kept warm.
Lastly, a special warm-up exercises are used during the winter, when it takes longer for the body to heat up: these exercises involve activating the joints and muscles, unlike classic warm-ups, which have three different phases. Maude Demenois, Bouygues Construction Ergonomics Manager, specifies that, “We’ve focused these warm-up exercises on activating all of the joints and muscles, ensuring that site workers are in the most dynamic phase of their warm-up when they start working.”
Tour Alto (la Défense) buried under the snow. ©Véronique Mati
When temperatures fell to -5°C, this glacial cold makes machines and tools more fragile, and makes it impossible to pour concrete without affecting its quality and resilience, ultimately risking the strength of the final construction.
If snow begins to fall, blurring edges and hiding black ice, it makes the situation even more dangerous. Fabrice Jouan, logistics and general services manager, stated categorically that, “As soon as conditions become unsafe, we stop work on the construction site automatically”.
No matter what limitations we face and how we adapt, employee safety remains our priority. Safety first!
Tour Alto (la Défense) buried under the snow. ©Véronique Mati
On 6 December, this film created by Bouygues Bâtiment International was given an award as part of the “Trophées de la Diversité®” awards, which looks to reward companies incorporating diversity into their growth, their HR issues and their managerial activities.
Bouygues Construction and Welink responded to the Elles Bougent (Girls on the Move) initiative by taking part in the second Girls on the Move Week. From Hong Kong to Cuba, 80 young women were welcomed by 60 women employees to seven of our sites throughout the world. See the images here.
Disability employment week will take place between the 14 and 20 November. During this time, we will be looking to reaffirming our commitments in relation to disability, and highlighting some of the actions carried out. Our subsidiary, Bouygues Energies & Services, the first company in its sector to have signed a disability agreement, is committed […]
The holidays are fast approaching, and winter is here. To mark the occasion, Bouygues Construction has a surprise in store. We’ve got something lovely to show you: postcards of our most beautiful buildings, old and new. Chalets, airports, hotels... all in the snow! We would like to take this opportunity to offer you our best wishes for the holiday season and the new year !
Constructing the buildings of tomorrow with respect for the past — this is the ambition for the sponsorship agreement signed between Bouygues Travaux Publics and INRAP for a three-year period. A symbol of the relationship of trust created between both partners, this agreement underlines Bouygues Travaux Publics’ long-term commitment to supporting scientific culture and heritage […]
Philippe Bonnave, Bouygues Construction CEO, signed an operational reserve policy support agreement on 10th November, alongside Florence Parly, Armed Forces Minister. This agreement will allow reservist employees to be more responsible and committed than ever.
Bouygues Bâtiment Ile-de-France received the Operational Excellence Award for large companies at the Cérémonie des Prix Nationaux de la Qualité et de l’Excellence Opérationnelle (national awards ceremony for quality and operational excellence) on 29 January 2018. This award recognises the company's commitment to its employees and customer-centred performance.
Bouygues Construction and Centrale Lille formed Chaire Construction 4.0 in 2017. Its aim was to support the digitisation and industrialisation of the sector. Thomas Danel, a PhD student in this field, has been working on a prototype for a remote-controlled crane. He talked to us about his project.
A photography exhibition of works by young photographers at the Fondation Jérôme Seydoux-Pathé.
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