Workplace accidents have been reduced on Olympic 2024 construction sites

“If we take the number of hours worked, compared to the national average, we had four times fewer work accidents on the Olympic sites,” summarized Mr. Thibault on franceinfo.

The former general secretary of the CGT (1999-2013), who sits on the Organizing Committee of the Olympic Games and represents the signatories of the social charter, had already given similar figures in the months preceding the competition. He can now provide a final assessment.

The 70 Olympic Games construction sites recorded "181 accidents, around thirty serious accidents and no fatal accidents", he detailed, while several deadly cases were, for example, recorded on the Greater Paris metro construction sites.

Serious accidents, “could be fractures, deep injuries, (but) essentially no irreparable injury,” he said.

According to Mr. Thibault, these results were obtained by imposing stricter rules and controls on construction groups than those provided for in the Labor Code.

Large groups like Bouygues or Vinci, which oversee the completion of the projects as a whole, have been held responsible in particular for the working conditions of employees who do not depend directly on them, but on the numerous subcontractors working in the Construction.

“Beyond the Olympics, (it) shows that we can work differently on construction sites in France and reduce the number of accidents,” judged Mr. Thibault.

The former union leader also recognized that the accusations of "social cleansing", made by associations after the dismantling of illegal camps, corresponded to a reality.

“As do all cities organizing major events, the public authorities strive to provide presentable images and, when we have people on the street, it is considered unpresentable,” regretted Mr. Thibault . “So we are creating the conditions to erase them from the landscape.”