Olympic Games 2024 in Paris: in Versailles work was interrupted by the labor inspectorate

Will the Parc de Versailles, one of the venues for the 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games in Paris, where equestrian and modern pentathlon competitions will take place, be ready for the start of events on July 27? A competition stadium with 16,300 seats should be built by the start of the competition. According to the Panel, on March 8, labor inspectors found that there was a “serious and imminent fall hazard” for employees who were installing bleachers and bleachers and who “several found themselves at heights estimated at between 19 and 20 meters.”

The Concord construction site also influenced

Others were “positioned on boards that were not secured to the structure and could therefore slip, tip or fall on other employees below.” » Inspectors then demanded an immediate stop to construction that same day, and a week later informed the company that they were not giving permission to resume work.

These discussions regarding the provision of construction site inspections occur daily. Other sites had already experienced shutdowns, but operations resumed more or less quickly after corrective measures were taken. At a hearing held in early April at the Versailles administrative court, GL Events is building two-thirds of the 200,000 temporary stands for the Olympic Games (as well as facilities for Formula 1, the 14 July grandstand and the Tour de France grandstand). on the Champs-Élysées) and therefore at Versailles – demanded the resumption of construction, claiming “the risk of overdue fines” and that the “interruption of work” jeopardized “the holding of sporting events related to the Olympic Games.” and is therefore of “essential public interest”.

These arguments were not accepted by the Regional and Interministerial Directorate of Economy, Employment, Labor and Solidarity of Ile-de-France (DREETS). “The urgency requirement is not met, since the financial interest of the company must be weighed against the public interest of the contested decisions, namely the protection of the health of employees,” the court points out. Interruptions in installation work in the stands and grandstands do not cause sufficiently serious and immediate harm to the organization of competitions that begin no earlier than the end of July; finally, public interests justify the suspension of work. »

Despite these timing problems, Paris 2024 is not worried. “All this (visiting the labor inspectorate) is the subject of all our vigilance among us and the inspection authorities. This calms us down. For some reason it’s very classic. » Similar problems have occurred on the Concorde website since March 14. GL Events says employees have since returned to normal work. The company reserves the right to take legal action again.