Occupational accidents in Belgian industry in restructuring contexts

International audienceThe link between restructuring operations and the increase of accidents for blue-collar workers in plants is well proved by academic literature. However, several large industrial companies publish accidents decrease indicators in spite of the continuous restructuring operations. A monograph on a multinational steel corporation shows that this paradox is explained by two factors : risk prevention measures introduced by the management for various reasons (moral, financial, competitive, media-related); development of diverse forms of “quantitative disappearance” of injuries in the workplace. In the Belgian plants studied, blue-collar workers face a continual dilemma between preserving their physical well-being and protecting their position (and future) fragilized by various uncertainties. In this regard, continuous restructuring have multi-dimensional effects on the management of workers’ health and safety, the reporting of injuries, but also on blue-collars ambivalent attitudes to danger and accidents