Employers' health and safety obligations

Employers' general obligations

Employers have a duty to ensure the health and safety of their employees in all work-related aspects. Employees' occupational health and safety obligations do not affect the principle of employer responsibility.

All employers have a duty to organise or join an occupational health department, as provided for in Article L. 321-1.

Labour Code Art. L. 312-1., L. 321-1.

Declaration of hazardous jobs

The employer must:

1. have an occupational health and safety risk assessment programme that covers groups of employees at particular risk;
2. determine the protective measures to be taken and, if necessary, the protective equipment to be used;
3. keep a list of workplace accidents that resulted in employees being unable to work for more than three days;
4. produce reports on workplace accidents involving its employees, and communicate such reports as soon as possible to the Inspectorate of Labour and Mines (Inspection du travail et des mines).

Where high-risk jobs are identified, the employer must communicate an up-to-date inventory of hazardous jobs in the company to the Occupational Health Department (Division de la santé au travail) every 3 years.

To that end, the employer, or any person appointed by them (preferably the designated worker), must complete a risk inventory report as 'head of inventory'.

Labour Code Art. L. 312-5., Art. L. 326-4.