EXPERT'S ARTICLE - By Charlotte Launay, Consultant HR performance, at GAC Group
The decree relating to the recognition as occupational diseases of pathologies linked to an infection with SARS-CoV2 (Covid-19) was published in the Official Journal on September 14, 2020.
The new table
Indeed, this decree creates a new table of occupational diseases, the 100 which provides:
Designation of diseases | Support time | Restrictive list of work likely to cause these diseases |
Acute respiratory conditions caused by SARS-CoV2 infection, confirmed by biological examination or CT scan or, failing that, by a documented clinical history (hospitalization report, medical documents) and requiring oxygen therapy or any other form of ventilatory assistance, attested by medical reports, or resulting in death. | 14 days | All face-to-face work performed by care and related staff, laboratory, service, maintenance, administrative or social service staff, in home hospital settings or in the following establishments and services: hospitals, outpatient centers dedicated to covid-19, health centers, multi-professional health centers, homes for the dependent elderly, home help and support services for vulnerable people, home nursing services, multi-purpose home help and care services, tuberculosis centers, medicalized foster homes, specialized foster homes, accommodation facilities for disabled children, therapeutic coordination apartments, medical care beds, halte soins santé beds, addiction care, support and prevention centers with accommodation, occupational health services, armed forces health service medical centers, prison health units, regional medico-psychological services, dispensing pharmacies, mutualist pharmacies or pharmacies run by mining aid societies.
Transporting and accompanying patients in vehicles assigned for this purpose |
Regarding the designation of the disease
" Acute respiratory conditions caused by SARS-CoV2 infection, confirmed by biological examination or CT scan or, failing that, by a documented clinical history (hospitalization record, medical documents) and requiring oxygen therapy or any other form of ventilatory assistance, attested by medical reports, or resulting in death"
Only the most severe forms of the disease are targeted. They are therefore those which required oxygen therapy or any other form of ventilatory assistance or even resulting in death.
The period of support
This is the period of time given to the employee to declare his or her illness once exposure to the risk has ceased. It is 14 days and appears to actually correlate with that estimated incubation of the disease.
Regarding the exhaustive list of works, this aims
" All face-to-face work performed by care and related staff, laboratory, service, maintenance, administrative or social service staff, in home hospital settings or in the following establishments and services: hospitals, outpatient centers dedicated to covid-19, health centers, multi-professional health centers, homes for the dependent elderly, home help and support services for vulnerable people, home nursing services, multi-purpose home help and care services, tuberculosis centers, medicalized foster homes, specialized foster homes, accommodation facilities for disabled children, therapeutic coordination apartments, medical care beds, halte soins santé beds, addiction care, support and prevention centers with accommodation, occupational health services, armed forces health service medical centers, prison health units, regional medico-psychological services, dispensing pharmacies, mutualist pharmacies or pharmacies run by mining aid societies.
Care and prevention activities for pupils and students in educational establishments
Transporting and accompanying patients in vehicles assigned for this purpose ".
Thus, this list only covers the medical and paramedical professions.
This table is therefore doubly limited to serious cases and medical and paramedical professions.
What happens when one of the conditions in the table is not met?
For conditions not contracted under the conditions of this table, the decree entrusts the examination of these requests to a single committee for the recognition of occupational diseases (CRRMP). Its composition is lightened to allow faster processing of cases, while maintaining guarantees of impartiality.
The CRRMP examines the case file. It then establishes the existence of a direct link between the illness and the victim's usual work. The committee's opinion is binding on the Caisse Primaire.
This procedure would apply, for example, for an employee outside the medical profession who declares a severe form of COVID-19.
Official text: LEGIFRANCE
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