A quantitative analysis of health, safety and environment policy in France

International audienceIn June 2012, new legislation was introduced in France to regulate the role of occupational risk prevention specialists (OHS professionals). The fact that the legislature took an interest in this group of workers highlights their importance in the implementation of risk prevention policies in the workplace. However, it must be noted that knowledge of the risk prevention 'profession' remains limited. Moreover, this lack of knowledge makes it difficult to establish a true picture of their responsibilities for risk assessment and to accurately identify current practices used to manage occupational risks (work-related accidents, occupational illness, etc.). In order to better understand the role of OHS professionals and the challenges they face the Centre for Risks and Crises at Mines ParisTech, working in collaboration with two private-sector health, safety and environment (HSE) companies ran a wide-ranging quantitative survey of 803 active OHS professionals. This survey had three key objectives. The first was to better understand the aims of OHS professionals and the kind of organization they work for. The second focused on an analysis of the brakes and obstacles they face, particularly with respect to their company's (managers and other employees) perception of the importance that should be given to the profession. The third and final objective was to identify the resources used by OHS professionals to manage issues related to the implementation of occupational risk prevention policy. This article is in four parts. The first two parts describe the challenges encountered in developing the quantitative survey and the methodology used in its implementation. The third and fourth parts present the principal results