What is the main occupational safety and health law in France and who enforces it?

The main occupational safety and health (OSH) law in France is the fourth part of the Labour Code (Code du travail, quatrième partie "Santé et sécurité au travail"), not a single stand-alone act. It is enforced by the labour inspectors of the regional directorates (DREETS) under the Ministry of Labour, while the Social Security occupational risks branch (CNAM, regional CARSAT and local CPAM) runs prevention advice, insurance premiums and accident declarations.

Short answer

• Law: Code du travail, part 4, with legislative articles (L.), regulatory articles (R. and D.) and ministerial orders (arrêtés). The general duty is article L. 4121-1 and the nine principles of prevention are in L. 4121-2.
• Scope: private-law employers and their workers, public industrial and commercial bodies, public administrative bodies for their staff under private-law contracts, and public hospitals and social care establishments (L. 4111-1). Other civil servants have separate rules.
• Policy: the Ministry of Labour's Directorate General of Labour (Direction générale du travail, DGT).
• Enforcement: labour inspectors (agents de contrôle de l'inspection du travail) in the DREETS and the departmental DDETS.
• Insurance and prevention: CARSAT prevention engineers can issue injunctions and raise an employer's accident insurance rate; the CPAM (or the agricultural fund, MSA) receives accident declarations.
• Special regimes: classified installations and Seveso sites are also inspected under the Environment Code by the prefect's inspectorate in the DREAL.

How the French OSH legislation is built

France transposes EU OSH directives into the Code du travail rather than into separate acts. Part 4 contains the general duties (book I), workplaces (book II), work equipment and PPE (book III), chemical, physical and biological agents (book IV), particular activities (book V), the occupational health services (book VI) and enforcement and penalties (book VII). Topic-specific technical requirements, such as zone classification for explosive atmospheres, are set by ministerial orders.

Other codes complete the picture: the Social Security Code for the declaration, recognition and compensation of accidents and occupational diseases, the Environment Code for classified installations (ICPE), Seveso sites and the placing on the market of ATEX equipment, and the Rural Code for agriculture. Directly applicable EU regulations such as CLP, REACH and the PPE Regulation (EU) 2016/425 apply without transposition.

The Law of 2 August 2021 to strengthen prevention in occupational health (Loi n° 2021-1018) is the most recent broad reform. It renamed the occupational health services as services de prévention et de santé au travail (SPST), set a minimum 40-year retention period for the single risk assessment document (DUERP) and wrote into the Code that the assessment leads to an annual prevention programme in companies with 50 or more employees and to a list of prevention actions in smaller ones (L. 4121-3-1).

Who enforces it and how

Labour inspectors are guaranteed independence under the international labour inspection conventions and are responsible for checking the Code du travail and recording offences (L. 8112-1). When they find a dangerous situation they can serve a formal notice (L. 4721-4), write an immediate report where the danger is serious or imminent (L. 4721-5), order a temporary stop of the work in listed cases such as falls from height, risk of burial, asbestos work or unguarded machinery (L. 4731-1), or apply to a judge for urgent measures (L. 4732-1). Breaches of the main OSH rules by the employer's personal fault are punished by a fine of 10,000 euros applied once per worker concerned (L. 4741-1); the labour administration, on the inspector's report, can also impose administrative fines for some breaches, including, since 27 June 2026, having no DUERP at all (L. 8115-1).

Common mistakes

• Looking for a "French OSH Act". The rules are in the Code du travail; search by article number (for example L. 4121-1) on the Ministry of Labour's Labour Code portal.
• Thinking the CARSAT is only an insurer. Its prevention services can inspect, issue injunctions and change the employer's premium rate.
• Forgetting environmental law. On a Seveso or ICPE site, the prefect's inspectorate enforces process safety requirements in parallel with labour law.

Related on excodex

• Occupational safety and health in France: law, authorities and employer duties
• What are the penalties for breaking occupational safety rules in France?
• How and within what time must a workplace accident be reported in France?
• The EU framework directive 89/391/EEC explained

Standards and further reading

• Code du travail, articles L. 1262-4, L. 4111-1, L. 4121-1, L. 4121-2, L. 4721-4, L. 4721-5, L. 4731-1, L. 4732-1, L. 4741-1, L. 8112-1 and L. 8115-1: Code du travail numérique
• Loi n° 2021-1018 du 2 août 2021 pour renforcer la prévention en santé au travail
• INRS, public authorities in charge of prevention policy: https://www.inrs.fr/demarche/acteurs-institutionnels/pouvoirs-publics-politique-prevention.html
• INRS, Social Security as an actor of prevention: https://www.inrs.fr/demarche/acteurs-institutionnels/assurance-sociale-acteur-prevention-reparation.html
• EU-OSHA national focal point France: https://osha.europa.eu/en/about-eu-osha/national-focal-points/france

This article is general occupational safety and health information prepared by the excodex editorial team. It does not replace the applicable legislation, standards, manufacturers' instructions or the assessment of a competent OSH professional or occupational physician.