Abstract
How can business improve people's lives? That is the issue of this inaugural seminar, and we decided to study a sector where there are real risks for employees, such as the building trade. On this way we chose Bouygues Construction, because we were sure that such a worldwide company would provide us with a lot of information thanks to a large scale of jobs and international building sites. When you go on the Bouygues Construction website , you can immediately feel how working conditions seem to be important for this firm. That's why we wondered why a company should improve its employees' working conditions. We first thought that such a Human Resources policy was nothing but superficial, so we wanted to check if Bouygues was only doing what was required by the law or paying a real attention to this policy. The law clearly says who is liable for the security of a building site. In fact, there is a double liability. The employees must take care of their own health and security at work. An example is the "droit de retrait": if an employee believes he is taking a big risk while working, he is allowed by law not to go to work for a few days. Of course, this right must be used carefully.
