The labor inspectorate has ordered a “temporary administrative closure” of part of the ArcelorMittal steelworks site in Fos-sur-Mer, near Marseille, site management announced on Sunday. This closure was decided because of too high levels of exposure of employees to toxic products and dust, as well as “insufficient” protection measures, according to the daily. Provencewho indicates that he has obtained the decision of the labor inspectorate.
This decision only concerns the steelworks department, where the steel is smelted, the company said in a press release. But the steelworks, which employs around 450 people, being at the heart of the plant’s activity, its closure would “consequently lead to that of the entire site”, a huge complex of 1,600 hectares with 2,500 direct jobs and 1,500 sub-contracted employees, according to site management.
An “unfounded and disproportionate” decision
Assuring that “health and safety at work are the company’s main priority”, ArcelorMittal claims to have “established and implemented an action plan with all parties to reduce staff exposure”. “In recent weeks, sustained dialogue with the labor inspectorate and elected staff has enriched this action plan, which has been placed on the agenda and submitted for consultation to the extraordinary CSE (social and economic committee). “Friday, where he” received the favorable opinion of the CSE as well as the occupational physician, “continues the press release from ArcelorMittal.
“As a result, we consider that the decision to suspend the activity of the steelworks and consequently that of the entire site is unfounded and disproportionate. We are currently studying all the possibilities of recourse,” continues the company. “At the same time, we are starting today to prepare for the shutdown of the steelworks and the site’s facilities, under the best possible safety and environmental conditions,” concludes the text.
Legal complaints for pollution
The Provençal plant of the world’s second-largest steelmaker can produce four million tonnes of steel per year and is ranked among the French industrial sites generating the most greenhouse gases and pollutants, even if the steelmaker has started significant modernization works. The site has been the subject of several formal notices from the prefecture as well as legal complaints for pollution, from local residents and NGOs, some of which have been rejected and others are still in progress.