Paris (AFP)
The law aimed at strengthening prevention in occupational health in companies, a poor relation of public policies highlighted by the Covid crisis, was promulgated and published in the Official Journal on Tuesday.
Depending on the application decrees, it will come into force on March 31, 2022.
This is the first parliamentary initiative text addressing the translation of a national interprofessional agreement (ANI) on the subject, the first of its kind too, validated on December 10 by the social partners with a view to reform. postponed for years.
The law aims to decompartmentalize public health and occupational health in order to better assess occupational risks in a country which devotes only "3% of AT / MP contributions (work accidents / occupational diseases) to their assessment, against 10% for Germany ", according to the LREM deputies at the origin of the text, Charlotte Parmentier-Lecocq and Carole Grandjean.
The single occupational risk assessment document (DUERP), the main tool for prevention in companies, is written in stone.
It is a document tracing the risks to which employees are exposed which engages the employer's responsibility and which must lead to an action plan, with a certain flexibility for companies with less than 50 employees.
The law provides for a "base offer" supposed to be more accessible to occupational health services (OHS), which become prevention and occupational health services (SPST).
They are focused on three missions: "Prevention, medical follow-up and prevention of professional withdrawal", that is to say the retention in employment of employees who have been affected by health problems.
It reaffirms the possibility of vaccination and screening campaigns by the occupational health services, in particular "against Sars-Cov-2", which already existed for influenza, with the obligatory consent of the employee.
It also ratifies, on a voluntary basis, the use of general practitioners called "corresponding practicing physicians" to alleviate the shortage of occupational physicians.
They are around 5,000 for 18 million employees, according to official data.
It also provides for the use of "nurses in advanced practice", which did not exist, with a level of qualification to be determined by decree.
The integration of physiotherapists and occupational therapists in the multidisciplinary teams of PTSD is also recorded.
Another flagship measure: the occupational physician will be able to consult the shared medical file (DMP) with the employee's agreement.
The "corresponding medical practitioner", whose text provides for specific training in occupational health, may for his part consult the employee's occupational health medical file (DMST), included in the DMP.
© 2021 AFP