The industry has made progress on workplace safety, but some companies still view diagnostics as a regulatory constraint.
In France, more than nine out of ten companies (91%) have formalized an occupational health and safety policy, according to the 2017 barometer of Previsoft, a software publisher and professional prevention consultancy. An encouraging rate, which is even higher in large companies (95%).
This good news hides some flaws, however. The single occupational risk assessment document, mandatory since 2001, was completed by 84% of companies (73% of companies with 250 to 500 employees). But this assessment is not always followed by action. Among the companies that have completed it, still one in four declares not to have followed it up with an action plan.
Regulatory constraint
While the management of physical risks is improving, the same is not true for psychological risks. Of the 300 companies questioned by the consulting firm, more than one in two does not seem to have taken the measure of psychosocial risks related to work (RPS) either. They are indeed only 48% to declare having carried out a diagnosis in this direction.
Stress, internal (moral or sexual harassment) or external violence. RPS engenders uneasiness at work, which can lead to burnout, the definition and inclusion of which are still little discussed at the political level, or even suicide. Each year, they are the source of a social cost of between two and three billion euros, according to an assessment by INRS, the public body for the prevention of occupational risks. A figure undoubtedly largely underestimated.
“Most companies consider that the single document is only a regulatory constraint,” explained to theAFP Grégoire Meresse, consultant in occupational risk prevention at Previsoft.
Take into account the arduousness
The training is not always there either. Only 65% of companies say they systematically train their employees for risky positions. A slightly higher proportion for employees hired on interim or fixed-term contracts (77%).
In terms of hardship at work, 82% of the companies questioned declared having carried out their diagnosis, the terms of which could well be revised. The new President of the Republic, Emmanuel Macron, has indeed pleaded for a simplification of the device. Adjustments could be made.
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