The DUERP

Mandatory as soon as they hire their first employee, all companies must have a single document for the assessment of occupational risks (DUERP). The employer is responsible for this assessment of risks to employees' health and safety. Indeed, this is part of the employer's general obligation to ensure the safety and protect the health of employees. They must comply with the general principles of prevention. Do you already have an internal DUERP? Is it up to date? Our company CountAct supports you in setting it up and defining it internally. In this article, we will look in detail at how to set it up, its usefulness, and when it should be updated to ensure its effectiveness.

What does the DUERP contain?

The DUERP must make it possible to identify and classify the risks to which employees are exposed, according to their severity, in order to implement prioritized prevention measures. For each type of workstation, the DUERP must include:

• identification of hazards, i.e. factors that could cause harm to employees;
• risk assessment, i.e. determining their severity and likelihood of occurrence, which helps you determine priorities;
• and the determination of existing and future prevention measures.

The importance of occupational risk prevention in your company is crucial because, as an employer, you have an obligation to guarantee the safety of your employees. Your liability may be engaged in the event of a failure to do so. In order to minimize the risk of legal proceedings, it is important to raise your employees' awareness of occupational risks so they can look after their own safety and health.

Who must carry out the DUERP?

The employer is responsible for carrying out the DUERP, but may delegate this task to an employee or to an outside company. As part of the creation of this document, the employer can get help from various sources to assess occupational risks, such as:

Who takes part in the DUERP?

Under labor law, the employer is responsible for risk assessment and must guarantee the safety and health protection of their employees. In companies with more than 11 employees, the elected CSE representatives often contribute to this assessment by monitoring working conditions and the health of their colleagues. However, the employer remains primarily responsible. Labor inspection and occupational health services are external sources that the employer relies on to assess risks within the company.

How do you carry out a DUERP?

The risk assessment must determine exposure to hazards and the likelihood of risks occurring in order to prioritize the prevention measures to be implemented. Risk prevention stems from this assessment by identifying ways to avoid them, eliminating exposure factors or reducing their likelihood, preventing risks at the source, adapting work and methods, replacing sources of danger, prioritizing collective protection measures, and training and informing employees about risks and prevention measures. You can often rely on a tool like FMEA to carry out your DUERP by following the process below:

What are the employer's obligations regarding the Single Document?

The employer is responsible for guaranteeing the mental and physical safety and health of all workers in their workplace. The employer must implement various types of actions to prevent occupational risks: Measures to prevent work-related hazards

• Prevention of fall-from-height risks
• Prevention of risks of contact with moving parts of a machine
• Prevention of psychosocial risks such as work overload, aggression and verbal abuse
• Prevention of chemical risks
• Protective measures against occupational risk factors (work-related strain, etc.)

Awareness-raising and training actions: The employer must provide information and training to the following employees:

• Those who have just been hired
• Those who have changed workstations
• Temporary workers
• Those who have resumed their activity after a visit to the occupational physician

Adequate processes and resourcesA regular assessment of risks within the establishment

What is the purpose of the Single Document?

The purpose of the DUERP is to optimize the physical and mental safety and health of workers by avoiding or limiting occupational risks, improving existing situations, and determining the necessary prevention actions.

Need support?

Need to set up a DUERP or update it? Our experts and our CountAct solution partly digitize your DUERP and support you in an internal implementation. So don't wait, and send us an email. Feel free to read our otherarticles on the subject!