Occupational health and safety: what are we really talking about?

Employees are THE most valuable resource of any organization. In France and in Quebec alike, employers are legally required to protect the health and safety of their employees inside the work environment.

When it comes to occupational health and safety, organizations have to hit three major objectives:

Preserve health and support employee wellbeing across physical, mental, and social dimensions.
Prevent the various risks employees face in the workplace, and protect them from potential harm or health deterioration.
Keep employees in roles that fit their capabilities — including after health issues.

Organizations therefore have to identify and evaluate the risks that exist inside the employee work environment, then roll out appropriate prevention measures. Employers also have to inform workers about the risks tied to their job and train them so they can work in a safe environment.

What are employer obligations in occupational health and safety?

In France, occupational health and safety is governed by the Code du travail (Labour Code). Article L4121-1 of the Code states that "the employer takes the necessary measures to ensure the safety and protect the physical and mental health of workers."

The text specifies that these measures include occupational risk prevention actions, information and training, plus "the implementation of an appropriate organization and resources." On top of that, the employer has to adapt these measures based on circumstances and "work toward improving existing situations."

The objective of these measures is to prevent occupational illnesses and workplace accidents, psychosocial risks, and musculoskeletal disorders. To hit this goal, the employer has to evaluate the risks present in the employee work environment. These risks have to be catalogued inside the DUERP (Document Unique d'Évaluation des Risques Professionnels — a Single Occupational Risk Assessment Document), which contains a risk evaluation and prevention action proposals. Producing this document is a legal obligation.

In Canada, the foundation for OHS is the Canada Labour Code, which includes an occupational health and safety regulation. In Quebec, employers must also apply the Act respecting occupational health and safety (LSST) — which states that "the employer must take the necessary measures to protect the health and ensure the safety and physical and psychological integrity of the worker" — the Act respecting industrial accidents and occupational diseases (LATMP), plus the regulations that flow from them.

The body responsible for promoting workplace rights and obligations — including prevention and safety — is the Commission des normes, de l'équité, de la santé et de la sécurité du travail (CNESST). Organizations are required to register their employees with the CNESST. They also have to develop a prevention program — "an action plan for prevention that is specific to each establishment and aims to eliminate or control workplace risks through concrete measures," as the CNESST website specifies.

Who is involved in managing occupational health and safety?

In France, many actors play a role in the workplace health and safety policy:

The employer, responsible for protecting employee health and safety and meeting their applicable obligations.
The occupational health service (membership in an inter-organizational occupational health service for organizations under 500 employees, or an internal service for organizations over 500).
Managers, front-line supervisors, and team leads — who have to enforce the rules and ensure OHS guidelines are properly applied.
The Social and Economic Committee (CSE — Comité social et économique), which holds responsibilities around health, safety, and working conditions (individual or collective complaints, investigations, right to raise alerts, and so on).
HR leadership and services, OHS managers, prevention officers, and internal safety leads.
Employees, who have to look after their own health, their own safety, and the safety of everyone present at the workplace.

In Quebec, the actors involved in an organization's workplace health and safety policy are:

The employer — responsible for protecting employee health and safety, meeting their applicable obligations, running risk identification work, and developing a prevention program.
Managers — who have to understand OHS stakes clearly and ensure their teams hold the right skills in this area.
The occupational health and safety committee — its representatives meet at least once a quarter, tasked with identifying and analyzing risks in order to make recommendations to the employer.
HR leadership and services, and the training manager.
The health and safety representative — who inspects workplaces, makes recommendations on risk identification and analysis, and handles necessary follow-ups with the CNESST.
Workers.

In France as in Quebec, occupational health and safety is everyone's responsibility. Every stakeholder has to step up at their level.

How SIGMA-HR OHS software supports your management

3 strong reasons to digitize your occupational health and safety management

1 — Data centralization

Using OHS software lets you centralize data and indicators, secure them, and make them accessible on-demand to every relevant stakeholder (with fine-grained access rights management, plus the option to create specific access rights when needed).

2 — A global view

This kind of tool delivers a global, complete view of existing risks inside the organization and the associated prevention measures — while enabling real-time data tracking and rapid response in case management.

3 — Effectiveness

Using OHS software lets you extract key indicators and build dashboards. Every stakeholder gets the information they need to run OHS management with sharper precision.

3 SIGMA-HR modules dedicated to occupational health and safety

The SIGMA-HR OHS suite enables rigorous, complete, real-time tracking of your occupational health and safety policy through three modules in particular.

Work accidents and occupational diseases

The consequences of workplace accidents are considerable for organizations — from human, social, managerial, and legal standpoints. All of this demands rigorous, effective tracking of workplace accidents. The ultimate goal: contain the number of accidents by targeting risks that can be reduced.

Managing workplace accidents and occupational diseases also carries a real economic stake. In France, the AT/MP (workplace accidents / occupational diseases) contribution rate is individualized and tied to the organization's safety performance. Tighter workplace accident management therefore reduces social contributions.

In Quebec, the insurance premium tied to OHS is linked to the cost of workplace accident and occupational disease claims. SIGMA-HR streamlines the calculation of CNESST contributions (personalized rate or retrospective plan) — supporting stronger control.

Occupational risks and DUERP

In France and in Quebec alike, organizations are required to identify and evaluate the health and safety risks their employees face. This risk identification should then let them catalogue and run training, information, and prevention actions to reduce workplace accidents and occupational diseases.

In France, the result of this work has to be recorded inside a Single Occupational Risk Assessment Document (DUERP). Every organization — regardless of size — is required to produce a DUERP.

Managing the Professional Prevention Account (CPP)

In France, the Labour Code requires organizations to track employee exposure to various strain factors (night work, rotating shift work, exposure to noise or extreme temperatures, and so on) and file digital declarations with the relevant funds.

Employees tied to one or more of these factors accumulate points on their Professional Prevention Account (CPP — Compte Professionnel de Prévention), which they can then use to pursue training, reduce their working time at the end of their career, or take early retirement.

Using OHS software lets organizations evaluate and track exposure time or frequency to strain factors — and meet their legal obligations.