17/05/2010
Road building firm Eurovia is to blame for the death of a worker caused by bitumen, the Bourg-en-Bresse (north of Lyons) social security court held on 10 May 2010. Eurovia, a subsidiary of the leading world building and civil engineering firm Vinci, was accused of "gross negligence" by the family of a bitumen worker who died of skin cancer in 2008. The court found that being splashed by or inhaling bitumen combined with UV exposure increased either the risk from UV or that from bitumen. In France, 4200 workers are thought to be directly exposed to bitumen fumes for an estimated duration of 1000 hours a year.