Certain products used during restoration work require a mask to be worn.

Establishing and ensuring compliance with safety rules, and the design of site installations specially adapted to meet the restorers' working requirements are among the priorities on this project.

Proper coordination of health and safety (H&S) issues is an imperative requirement on worksites. This routine necessity is, however, particularly important in the Hall of Mirrors, where a number of very different specialist teams are working side by side.

Strict rules apply when the restorers use specialised products in the course of their work. The health and safety officers of the Etablissement Public de Versailles are directly involved in defining the safety rules for the site, and ensuring they are followed.

Franck Lebreuil, H&S coordinator for the Hall of Mirrors restoration project

- What does it take to make a good H&S officer?
The Health & Safety officer has to be able to predict and evaluate the risks present on this type of site. On that basis, he liaises with the contracting authority and the project management in order to define the procedures necessary for effective risk management.

- What are the principal requirements of H&S coordination ?
The legal requirement for H&S coordination on worksites dates back to 1995, when the relevant EU Directive was transposed into French law. In general terms, the bigger the site, the more requirements we have to meet.
For the Hall of Mirrors we hold quarterly meetings of the so-called CISSCT, the inter-company health, safety and working conditions committee. This brings together the various players working on the restoration project, plus the representatives from the labour inspectorate and the Cramif, the health insurance authority for the Ile de France region.

- What special risks are involved in this kind of project?
We have identified a number of priority areas, such as the risk of fire, the danger of serious falls, risks created by the presence of the general public and of course the use of dangerous products. We considered these one by one and defined a dedicated response to manage each single risk. In particular, we set up automatic sprinkler systems in the high fire risk zones outside, where flammable materials are stored.
The use of restoration products such as varnishes and solvents is also meticulously managed and monitored. I have asked the restorers to use safety trays with containers, to prevent accidental spillages from reaching floor level. All products are stored in special cabinets; when they are used, the ventilation systems and the requirement to wear a mask eliminate both the risk of fire and the possible danger to restorers from inhaling toxic fumes.