Deaths at work in France: the invisible victims – It’s in France | EUROtoday

On July 15, 2025, Matis Dugast, a 19-year-old non permanent employee, died, buried underneath thirty tons of burning bitumen on a street restore web site in Vendée.

“He remained for fifteen to twenty minutes under the 180 degree coating. The emergency services were not able to save him,” says his mom, Murielle Dugast.

The investigation into the causes of the accident remains to be ongoing, however the authorized time is lengthy. His mom testifies to interrupt the silence. “We don’t talk enough about work accidents,” she regrets, “yet working kills you.”

Victims usually younger and precarious

Professor of historical past and geography, Matthieu Lépine is aware of the topic effectively. For ten years, he has recorded deadly accidents at work utilizing articles within the native press. Author of “The Invisible Slaughter: Investigation into Workplace Deaths”, he explains that the victims of deadly accidents at work are predominantly males, usually younger and precarious. “When you are young or precarious, you are more likely to accept dangerous working conditions, because you find yourself in a situation of inferiority,” he explains.

Also learnDeaths at work in France, a “massive phenomenon” which notably impacts employees

The sectors most affected by deadly accidents are development, trade, and transport. In 2024, Health Insurance recorded 764 deaths as a result of work accidents, a determine which doesn’t bear in mind civil servants, farmers and even self-employed employees, which means that the actual quantity could possibly be a lot larger.

An inadequate security tradition in France

In France, labor inspectors are accountable for verifying compliance with security requirements. Yoann Journaux, labor inspector within the Paris area, repeatedly notes shortcomings. “Safety is not a priority, which explains why France records such poor results in terms of fatal accidents,” he says.

Due to the discount within the variety of labor inspectors in recent times, web site inspections and prevention work have gotten more and more tough. Currently, almost 300 labor inspector positions are vacant in France.

Families of victims: a struggle for justice

Sylvie and Fabrice Pertet misplaced their son on July 26, 2023. He was 21 years previous. Jules Pertet labored for the recycling firm Paprec in Nîmes.

That day, he was cleansing a so-called “vacuum bags” machine when it was restarted by one other worker. Jules was sucked in and died immediately. “Three days before his accident, he told me he was going to resign because he didn’t feel safe,” says his mom.

According to the labor inspector who intervened on the scene, “the accident should not have happened”. The regulation prohibits an employer from utilizing non-compliant equipment. The one which killed Jules had 79 non-compliances, at the least two of which had been decisive within the accident.

The Paprec group rejects all accountability. “Indeed, some of these non-compliances exist, but they are not linked to the accident. The accident is due to a failure by other employees to comply with safety rules,” defends Me Fanny Colin, the lawyer for the Paprec firm.

Insufficient sanctions?

Placing the blame on different staff is an unacceptable line of protection for Jules’ mother and father. Like different households, they’re demanding harder sanctions for firms that don’t put in place enough safety circumstances to guard their staff.

Véronique Millot, vice-president of the Families – Stop Death at Work collective, believes that fines ought to be proportional to the turnover of firms. “In 2021, the average fine was 30,000 euros. 30,000 euros is still extremely light to be responsible for someone’s death,” she says.

On March 26, the Paprec group was discovered responsible of manslaughter and fined 225,000 euros. The director of the Nîmes manufacturing facility was sentenced to a few years in jail and a high quality of 10,000 euros. They appealed.

Two different trials for severe or deadly work accidents await the French recycling juggernaut between now and May. April 8, on the Montpellier court docket for the Paul Masselin affair. The younger man, aged 23 on the time of the occasions, was caught by a machine just like the one by which Jules Pertet was killed. He escaped miraculously, however with severe after-effects. Health insurance coverage acknowledged him as having a everlasting incapacity of 45%.

And on May 12, the Paprec group will as soon as once more be earlier than the Nîmes court docket for a brand new listening to for “involuntary manslaughter” following the demise of Andres Cotonda, a 61-year-old logistics supervisor crushed by a bale of waste, on May 23, 2025, within the Paprec manufacturing facility in Nîmes the place Jules Pertet misplaced his life.