Occupational safety International framework and country guides
What OSH training must employers provide to workers in France?
Part of: Occupational safety and health in France: law, authorities and employer duties
Short answer
French employers must give practical, job-specific safety training on hiring, on a change of job, to temporary workers and after 21+ days off if the physician asks, plus reinforced training for high-risk posts and rules for first aid, driving and electrical work.
French employers must inform workers about the risks and give them practical and appropriate safety training (formation pratique et appropriée à la sécurité) when they are hired, when they change job or technique, when they are temporary agency workers and, at the occupational physician's request, when they return after at least 21 days off work. Specific rules add first-aid training, driving authorisations for mobile and lifting equipment, electrical authorisation and training for explosive atmospheres and other particular risks.
Short answer
- Information on risks: for all workers, understandable by each, at hiring and whenever necessary (L. 4141-1 and R. 4141-2).
- General safety training (L. 4141-2): new hires; workers changing job or technique; temporary agency workers (except those called for urgent safety work who are already qualified); workers returning after at least 21 days off, when the occupational physician asks.
- Content (R. 4141-3): moving around the site, how to carry out the work safely, what to do in case of an accident or incident.
- Conditions (R. 4141-5): adapted to the worker's training, qualification, experience and language; counted as working time and given during normal hours.
- Reinforced training: fixed-term, temporary and trainee workers in posts with particular risks for their health or safety, on a list drawn up by the employer after the opinion of the occupational physician and the CSE (L. 4154-2).
- Repetition: the training is repeated periodically as set by regulations or collective agreements (L. 4141-2). The Code sets no single universal refresher interval.
Topic-specific training and authorisations
On top of the general training, many chapters of the Code du travail require their own training or a formal authorisation issued by the employer.
| Topic | Requirement | Reference |
|---|---|---|
| First aid | One person trained as a first-aider in each workshop where dangerous work is done, and on each site with at least 20 workers for more than 15 days where dangerous work is done | R. 4224-15 |
| Self-propelled mobile and lifting equipment | Adequate training, completed and refreshed whenever necessary | R. 4323-55 |
| Equipment with particular risks, as listed by ministerial order | Driving authorisation (autorisation de conduite) issued by the employer, valid only with a medical attestation of no contraindication from the occupational physician, valid five years | R. 4323-56 |
| Electrical work | Electrical authorisation (habilitation) issued by the employer after theoretical and practical training, according to the standards referred to in R. 4544-3; a medical attestation is needed for work near bare live parts | R. 4544-9, R. 4544-10 |
| Explosive atmospheres | Sufficient and appropriate training in explosion protection for people working in hazardous areas | Order of 8 July 2003, article 5; R. 4227-49 |
| Workers' representatives | CSE members: at least five days' health and safety training in their first mandate, three days on renewal (five for CSSCT members in companies of 300 or more) | L. 2315-18 |
| Designated competent employee | Health and safety training on the same terms as CSE members | L. 4644-1 |
The medical attestation rules for driving and electrical authorisations changed on 1 October 2025 (Decree 2025-355 of 18 April 2025): fitness opinions issued earlier under reinforced medical follow-up remain valid as attestations for five years from issue.
Activities such as asbestos work, ionising radiation and scaffold erection have further specific training rules in the Code and its orders; check the chapter for the activity concerned.
Contractors and high-risk sites
When an external company works in a host company, the two employers analyse the interfering risks after a joint inspection and agree a prevention plan, in writing for operations of 400 hours or more within 12 months or for listed dangerous work (R. 4512-6 and R. 4512-7). Before the work starts, the external company's head explains to its workers, on the spot, the specific dangers, the prevention measures, the danger zones and the access and escape routes (R. 4512-15). In upper-tier Seveso establishments, nuclear sites and certain mining and underground storage sites (L. 4521-1), the host employer must give the external companies' managers and workers practical and appropriate training on the particular risks of their intervention before their first job inside the site (L. 4522-2).
Example: A maintenance contractor sends a new technician to a French chemical plant to replace a pressure transmitter in an ATEX zone. The contractor gives general safety training at hiring, issues an electrical authorisation suited to the task after training, and checks that the technician has had explosion protection training. The host plant, as a Seveso upper-tier site, gives its own site-specific induction before the first intervention, and the work is done under the written instructions and work permit required by the site's explosion protection document.
Common mistakes
- Treating a generic e-learning course as the legal training. The Code requires practical training related to the worker's own job and site.
- Letting a worker drive a lift truck with a certificate from a previous employer. The driving authorisation is issued by the current employer and is valid only with a current medical attestation.
- Training outside working hours unpaid. Safety training is working time.
Related on excodex
- Occupational safety and health in France: law, authorities and employer duties
- Are pre-employment and periodic medical examinations required for workers in France?
- How are explosive atmospheres and Ex equipment regulated in France?
- Competence of people working in hazardous areas
Standards and further reading
- Code du travail, articles L. 4141-1, L. 4141-2, R. 4141-2 to R. 4141-5, L. 4154-2, R. 4224-15, R. 4323-55, R. 4323-56, R. 4544-9, R. 4544-10, L. 2315-18, R. 4512-6, R. 4512-7, R. 4512-15, L. 4521-1, L. 4522-2: Code du travail numérique
- Décret n° 2025-355 du 18 avril 2025 (medical attestations for driving and electrical authorisations, in force 1 October 2025)
- Arrêté du 8 juillet 2003 relatif à la protection des travailleurs susceptibles d'être exposés à une atmosphère explosive: AIDA (INERIS)
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.
More questions on this topic
- What is the main occupational safety and health law in France and who enforces it?
- Must an employer in France appoint a safety professional or an occupational physician?
- Is a written risk assessment mandatory in France, and how often must it be reviewed?
- How and within what time must a workplace accident be reported in France?
- Are pre-employment and periodic medical examinations required for workers in France?
- What are the penalties for breaking occupational safety rules in France?
- Is a safety committee or a worker safety representative required in France?
- How are explosive atmospheres and Ex equipment regulated in France?
Part of: Occupational safety and health in France: law, authorities and employer duties