On Wednesday, November 9, Bouygues Entreprises France-Europe⁽¹⁾ signed a major agreement with three leading temporary employment companies (Adecco Group, Domitis Network and Randstad) to improve safety for their personnel working on construction sites. The aim is to further reduce the number of accidents and strive to achieve "zero accidents". It is the first such agreement in the construction sector in France. 

The partnership enables the three companies to be closely associated in a series of safety initiatives. 

Over the next three years, a large number of temporary employees will be trained by their companies in workplace first aid. It has been proved that those who receive such training are involved in fewer accidents than other employees. 

In addition, between 2012 and 2014 approximately 800 temporary workers will attend a training module dedicated to the basics of safety in the construction industry. The module is inspired by the "Building Permit" training programme devised by Bouygues Entreprises France-Europe, which is compulsory for all site workers. As a priority it will be provided for temporary workers aged under 25 and/or with less than two years' experience of the profession. In implementing this training scheme, the temporary employment companies will collaborate with Apave, an organisation widely acknowledged for its work in risk prevention. 

Alongside these steps, the anti-addiction policy that is one of the priorities of Bouygues Entreprises France-Europe will be routinely presented to every temporary employee by his or her agency before being sent to the construction site. 

The signatories will carry out a review on a quarterly basis to evaluate the tangible consequences of the agreement. 

Ultimately, Bouygues Construction hopes to extend this approach to all of its structures in France. The Group's ambitious Health and Safety policy aims to limit risks, achieve "zero accidents" and thus protect the physical and mental well-being of its employees and partners. 
The global safety management system in place throughout the Group has been certified OHSAS 18001⁽²⁾ for more than 80% of its business. 
Bouygues Construction subsidiaries regularly conduct awareness campaigns on the topic of safety, systematically involving all employees and stakeholders. 

The involvement of employees in these initiatives has resulted in a lowering in the level of risk over five years: the accident frequency rate has fallen from 11.97 in 2005 to 6.14 in 2010 (compared to 48.1 for the construction sector in 2009, according to the French National Health & Safety Institute). 
  
⁽¹⁾        Bouygues Entreprises France-Europe is an entity of Bouygues Construction incorporating all the French regional subsidiaries (with the exception of the Paris region) and businesses in Switzerland and Spain. 
⁽²⁾        The British occupational Health & Safety standard.