The safety report published in L'USINE NOUVELLE in October 2010 told us that “for 5 years, lawsuits for inexcusable misconduct by the employer in matters of occupational safety and health have been multiplied by a thousand” and that the sanctions were very severe. But when do we consider that the employer is committing an inexcusable fault?
Jurisprudence from July 1941 established that the inexcusable fault of the employer derives from a voluntary act or omission such as, for example, non-compliance with safety regulations, non-compliance with basic rules of care or the use of an unsuitable or defective work tool. In addition, the Court of Cassation considers that non-compliance with the recommendations of the CRAM (National Health Insurance Fund) is an aggravating factor.
The inexcusable fault of the employer cannot be accepted if it has been proven that the victim committed imprudence. In fact, to be qualified as inexcusable, the employer's fault must be the determining cause of the accident. On the other hand, if a fault on the part of the employer made possible the victim's imprudence, then this ground of accusation may be accepted.
Remember that security can no longer be decreed but it can be cultivated. The best understood it! And you?
Source: INRS “Work and Safety” and THE NEW FACTORY of October 2010.
