The single occupational risk assessment document is a core obligation for every employer in France. What it must contain, who is concerned, and how to build it without reducing it to a mere administrative formality.
The single occupational risk assessment document (DUERP) lists, for every job or work situation, the risks employees are exposed to. Too often seen as a mere formality, it is in fact the central tool of any workplace prevention approach and a document that can be relied upon in the event of an inspection or an accident.
A legal obligation for every employer
French labour law requires every employer, from the very first employee, to draw up and keep this document up to date. Its absence is never neutral: it exposes the employer to penalties and weakens its position in the event of a dispute linked to a workplace accident or occupational disease.
What the DUERP must contain
The document identifies and classifies risks by work unit, assesses their severity and likelihood, and leads to a prioritised action plan. This is not a theoretical inventory: every risk identified must correspond to a reality observed in the field, with prevention measures that are genuinely put in place.
Regular updates, not a one-off exercise
The DUERP must be reviewed at least once a year in companies with eleven or more employees; below that threshold, it must still be updated whenever a significant change occurs in work organisation, processes or equipment, or when new information about a risk assessment comes to light. A document that is several years old and never updated loses all evidential value and all operational usefulness for prevention.
A field-based method, not a desk exercise
IFECARM GROUP supports management and HR teams in drawing up or updating their DUERP: field data collection by work unit, risk scoring with the teams concerned, and the design of a realistic action plan with ongoing follow-up. The goal is not a document gathering dust in a binder, but a living management tool for prevention.
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