Section 5: Inter-company college for safety, health and working conditions.

When the number of companies, including self-employed workers and subcontractors, and the number of workers exceed certain thresholds, the project owner will set up an inter-company safety, health and working conditions committee.

The opinions expressed by workers employed on the site in the performance of their duties within the inter-company college may not be used as grounds for sanction or dismissal.

The project owner and the contractor who intends to subcontract part of the work shall include in the contracts concluded with the contractors or subcontractors respectively the obligation to participate in an inter-company safety, health and working conditions committee.

The inter-company safety, health and working conditions committee may define, in particular on a proposal from the coordinator, certain common rules designed to ensure compliance with the safety and health protection measures applicable to the worksite. It checks that all the rules prescribed either by itself or by the coordinator are actually implemented.

The intervention of the inter-company college for safety, health and working conditions does not alter the nature and extent of the responsibilities incumbent on the participants in the building or civil engineering operation pursuant to the other provisions of this code, or the powers of the staff representative bodies responsible for health, safety and working conditions.

Employees appointed as members of the inter-company college have the necessary time, paid as working time, to attend meetings of this college.