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Specific rules apply when an apprentice joins a company. We'd like to give you an overview of the specific regulatory obligations concerningapprentice safety, particularly when they are minors, and present the experiment being carried out on the apprentice information and prevention visit.
I. Prohibited or restricted work for apprentices
1. If the apprentice is on a fixed-term contract
It is then forbidden to employ them for work involving exposure to certain hazardous chemical agents (e.g. asbestos, dichloromethane, hard metal dusts, etc.), unless an exemption has been requested from the Direccte (Direction régionale des entreprises, de la concurrence, de la consommation, du travail et de l'emploi). In addition, he or she must receive reinforced safety training.
2. If the apprentice is a minor
An apprentice under the age of 18 may not be assigned to any of the prohibited work listed in articles D. 4153-1 et seq. of the French Labor Code: work involving the risk of collapse or burial, work exposing the apprentice to extreme temperatures, work exposing the apprentice to group 3 or 4 biological agents, work exposing the apprentice to mechanical vibrations exceeding the daily exposure limit, work exposing the apprentice to electromagnetic fields and likely to exceed the limit values, ...
For the work listed below, however, it is possible to obtain a derogation from the Dirrecte; this derogation is valid for 3 years from the date on which the declaration is sent to the labor inspector. The derogation must specify the company's sector of activity, the work to be covered by the derogation, and the status or function of the competent person(s) responsible for supervising the young workers:
- work involving the preparation, use, handling or exposure to hazardous chemical agents ;
- drivinglifting and self-propelled mobile equipment ;
- use and/or maintenance of "dangerous" machines (= machines subject to EC type-examination or with moving parts that remain accessible during operation);
- maintenance work that cannot be carried out at a standstill, without the possibility of unexpectedly restarting the transmissions, mechanisms and work equipment involved
- scaffolding erection and dismantling ;
- handling, monitoring, inspection and servicing of pressure vessels;
- cleaning and maintenance operations in confined spaces, such as tanks, cisterns, reservoirs, pits, galleries, etc. ;
- interventions susceptibles de générer une exposition à un niveau d'empoussièrement de fibres d'amiante de niveau 1 (< 10 f/l) ou 2 (< 600 f/l) ;
- work involving exposure to artificial optical radiation where limit values may be exceeded.
To benefit from this exemption, you must also :
- before assigning a young worker to the work concerned, to have informed him of the risks to his health and safety and the measures taken to remedy them, and to have given him safety training appropriate to his age, level of training and professional experience;
- ensure that the trainee is supervised by a competent person ;
- have a medical opinion on the suitability of each young worker, renewed every year.
However, work is authorized without exemption in the case of young ...
- workers who hold a diploma or professional qualification corresponding to the activity they carry out may be assigned to work likely to give rise to a derogation if they are medically fit for such work;
- who have electrical clearance can carry out electrical operations within the limits set by their clearance;
- may be assigned to drive self-propelled mobile work equipment and lifting work equipment;
- aged between 15 and 18 must have specific medical authorization to be allowed to carry loads exceeding 20% of their body weight.
II. Apprentice medical follow-up
Apprentices must undergo an information and prevention visit (VIP) or, if they are assigned to a position requiring reinforced individual monitoring (SIR), a pre-recruitment medical examination within two months of being hired. However, if the apprentice is under 18, the VIP must be carried out before he or she is assigned to the workstation.
As a reminder, workers benefiting from enhanced individual health monitoring include :
- workers with electrical clearance,
- workers holding a driving license,
- young workers under the age of 18 assigned to prohibited work for which a derogation has been declared to the labor inspectorate,
- workers exposed to the risk of falling from a height during assembly operations
- and scaffolding dismantling,
- workers exposed to asbestos, certain CMR agents (carcinogenic, mutagenic or toxic), etc.
- workers assigned to positions identified by the employer as being at risk, and requiring reinforced individual monitoring.
III. Experimenting with the performance of the apprentice's VIP by a general practitioner
To cope with the long delays experienced by occupational health services, a decree has been issued to define the conditions for experimenting with the provision of information and prevention visits (VIPs) for apprentices, to be carried out by a health professional from the town's medical service when occupational health professionals are unavailable.
1. Duration and conditions of this experiment
This experiment begins on January 1, 2019 and ends on December 31, 2021. It concerns all apprentices, with the exception of those in agricultural education, whose contracts are signed between April 30, 2019 and October 31, 2021.
2. How to use
No later than the apprentice's hiring date, the employer must contact his occupational health department to arrange for a VIP. This visit is organized within two months of the apprentice's hiring date, or before the apprentice is assigned to the workstation.
The occupational health service has eight days to respond to the employer's request. At the end of this period, if the occupational health service has indicated that no health professional is available to carry out the visit, or if it has not provided the employer with a response, the VIP may be carried out by any doctor practicing in the outpatient sector, subject to certain conditions specified below.
Before the day of the VIP, the employer sends :
- to the doctor responsible for carrying out the information and prevention visit: the job description or any other document specifying the tasks entrusted to the apprentice and the conditions under which they are carried out, as well as the contact details of the occupational health department to which the apprentice belongs;
- the occupational health department: contact details of the outpatient doctor responsible for carrying out the information and prevention visit.
At the end of the visit, the outpatient doctor will give the apprentice a follow-up document certifying that the visit has been carried out. A copy is also sent to the employer and the relevant occupational health department.
3. Coverage of costs related to these visits
If the company has its own occupational health department, the fees of the doctor performing the VIP are paid by the employer.
If the company is a member of an occupational health service, these fees are paid by the occupational health service of the employer hiring the apprentice.
4. Doctors able to carry out information and prevention visits
The employer can arrange these visits with an outpatient physician, who can be :
- one of the doctors who has signed an agreement with the occupational health department of the apprentice's employer,
- if one of the doctors who has signed an agreement is unavailable, or if no agreement has been signed, any doctor practicing in the outpatient sector, in particular the apprentice's GP, subject to the apprentice's agreement or that of his or her legal representatives if the apprentice is a minor.
Occupational health services provide the apprentice's employer with a list of doctors who have signed an agreement.
In conclusion, if you welcome apprentices into your company, we advise you to :
- check that the obligations described in this article have been met;
- take account of the new experiment in your management of medical check-ups for new apprentices.
We also remind you that, like all employees, apprentices must receive safety training when they join the company.
[1] Article D. 4154-1 of the French Labour Code
[2] Decree no. 2018-1340 of December 28, 2018 on the experiment relating to the performance of the information and prevention visit for apprentices by a health professional from town medicine [JORF of December 30, 2018].