All workplaces must comply with technical conditions guaranteeing
good hygiene and safety for the workers.
To this end, projects for the construction, enlargement or
transformation of buildings used as workplaces must be sent by the
employer to the local labor inspectorate for an opinion.
The projects shall be accompanied by plans showing the location of the
buildings, the nature, and layout of the fittings, mechanical, electrical,
sanitary and other installations.
The public bodies responsible for issuing building permits are required
to take into account the opinion of the Labor Inspector.
The establishment of the work premises must take into account the
regulations concerning classified establishments.
Workrooms shall be above ground level. Where, for reasons of force
majeure, a workroom must be located underground, one-half of its
height shall not be below the level of the sidewalk.
The work premises must have a surface and an interior volume suitable
for taking into account the climate, the nature of the work and the
several workers.
Each worker must have a minimum of eight cubic meters per hour with
a ceiling height of at least 2.50 m. In establishments open to the public
or recognized as inconvenient or unhealthy, this air volume is 12 cubic
meters per employee.
The height under the ceiling can be lowered to 2 meters when the
ventilation is considered satisfactory.
The work premises are kept in a constant state of cleanliness.
The floor must be made of resistant, impermeable material, and easy to
clean. When it is made slippery by the materials worked on in the
room, it shall be provided with a non-slip covering.
The different work areas must be at the same level. If this is not the
case, the inclination should be as low as possible.
The floor is cleaned thoroughly at least once a day. In rooms where
work is not organized in an interrupted day and night way, this cleaning
is carried out before the opening or after the end of work, but never
during working hours.
Cleaning shall be done either by vacuuming or washing, or with
brushes, brooms, or damp cloths if the conditions are suitable,
or wet clothes if the needs of the operation or the nature of the
floor covering prevents washing.
Where rooms are cleaned by washing, the floor should be sloped to
permit drainage and drainage systems should be provided.
Dry cleaning with brushes or brooms is strictly prohibited.
Walls and ceilings must be cleaned frequently; plastering must be
redone as often as necessary.
In rooms where organic materials are processed, as well as in those
where rags are handled and sorted, the walls and floors are also
washed as often as necessary with a disinfectant solution.
Putrescible residues must never remain in the workrooms; they must
be removed as and when they occur, unless they are deposited in
hermetically sealed containers, emptied and washed at least once a
day.
Passages within workplaces, corridors, and galleries connecting different
parts of the premises, as well as the stairways, must be sufficiently
wide, taking into account the number of workers to allow an easy
evacuation in case of emergency.
The spaces between machines, installations, and workstations must be
wide enough to protect workers against any discomfort and any
accident due to accidental contact with a machine or part of a machine.
Every establishment must have a sufficient number of doors and
stairways and, if necessary, emergency exits judiciously distributed in
order to allow a fast evacuation of the personnel and the customers in
case of fire or any other danger.
Doors, stairways, and emergency exits must always be free and never be
cluttered with merchandise in storage or any other objects.
The width of doors and stairs must not be less than 80 centimeters.
Doors likely to be used for the evacuation of more than 20 persons and,
in any case, doors to rooms in which flammable materials of the first or
the second group as provided for in Section 3.1 are stored and those of
sales stores shall open in the direction of the exit.
Where the size of the establishment or the layout of the premises so
requires, clearly visible signs shall indicate the way to the nearest exit.
Emergency exits” shall be marked.
Emergency lighting must be provided to ensure the evacuation of
persons in the event of an accidental interruption of normal lighting.
The stairs must be bordered on the side of the void, ramps, and
handrails and provide all guarantees of safety.
Workrooms located on floors or in basements must always be served
by a sufficient number of staircases, in sufficient number. The existence
of elevators, freight elevators, moving walkways, or conveyor belts
cannot justify reducing the number and width of stairways.