Changes to the hardship prevention system

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Please note: This article concerns French legislation. The requirements described may not apply in other countries.

We invite you to review the evolution of the hardship prevention system.

Hardship thresholds and prevention records for the hardship system

Regarding the evolution of the hardship prevention system, concerning hardship thresholds and exposure prevention records, articles D. 4161-1 to 4 of the Labor Code define:

1. The occupational risk factors and associated exposure thresholds beyond which an exposure prevention record must be established for each affected worker
2. The criteria for assessing exposure to hardship factors
3. The procedures for developing, updating, and distributing exposure prevention records

Hardship factors and thresholds

The 10 hardship factors already in effect since 2012 remain unchanged in the evolution of the hardship system.

The main change compared to the previous hardship system applicable since February 2012 is that these factors are now associated with regulatory thresholds based on both minimum intensity and duration. Previously, the thresholds used to identify job positions and work situations involving exposure to hardship factors were left to the discretion of each employer.

Regarding significant physical constraints:

Occupational risk factors	Thresholds
Action or situation	Minimum intensity	Minimum duration
a) Manual handling of loads as defined in Article R. 4541-2	Lifting or carrying	Unit load of 15 kilograms	600 hours per year
Pushing or pulling	Unit load of 250 kilograms	600 hours per year
Movement of the worker with the load, or picking up the load from the ground or at a height above shoulder level	Unit load of 10 kilograms	600 hours per year
Cumulative handling of loads	7.5 tonnes cumulated per day	120 days per year
b) Strenuous postures defined as forced joint positions	Holding arms raised above shoulder height, or crouching or kneeling positions, or torso twisted at 30 degrees, or torso bent at 45 degrees		900 hours per year
c) Mechanical vibrations mentioned in Article R. 4441-1	Hand-arm transmitted vibration	Exposure value over an 8-hour reference period of 2.5 m/s²	450 hours per year
Whole-body transmitted vibration	Exposure value over an 8-hour reference period of 0.5 m/s²	450 hours per year

Regarding harsh physical environments:

Occupational risk factors	Thresholds
Action or situation	Minimum intensity	Minimum duration
a) Hazardous chemical agents (HCA) mentioned in Articles R. 4412-3 and R. 4412-60, including dust and fumes	Exposure to a hazardous chemical agent falling under one or more hazard classes or categories as defined in Annex I of Regulation (EC) No 1272/2008 and listed in an order of the minister responsible for labour	For each hazardous chemical agent, the threshold is determined by applying an assessment grid that takes into account the type of exposure route, the emission or contact class of the chemical agent concerned, the process of use or manufacture, the collective or individual protective measures in place, and the duration of exposure, as defined by an order of the minister responsible for labour and the minister responsible for health
b) Activities carried out in a hyperbaric environment as defined in Article R. 4461-1	Interventions or work	1,200 hectopascals	60 interventions or jobs per year
c) Extreme temperatures	Temperature of 5 °C or below, or 30 °C or above		900 hours per year
d) Noise mentioned in Article R. 4431-1	Noise exposure level over an 8-hour reference period of at least 80 decibels (A)		600 hours per year
Exposure to a peak sound pressure level of at least 135 decibels (C)		120 times per year

Regarding specific work rhythms:

Occupational risk factors	Thresholds
Action or situation	Minimum intensity	Minimum duration
a) Night work under the conditions set out in Articles L. 3122-29 to L. 3122-31	One hour of work between midnight and 5am		120 nights per year
b) Alternating shift work	Alternating shift work involving at least one hour of work between midnight and 5am		50 nights per year
c) Repetitive work characterised by the repetition of the same movement, at a constrained pace, whether or not imposed by the automatic movement of a part or by piece-rate pay, with a defined cycle time	Cycle time of 1 minute or less		900 hours per year
30 or more technical actions per minute with a cycle time greater than 1 minute

Regarding exposure to hazardous chemical agents (ACD), the threshold is determined by applying an assessment grid defined by ministerial decree (expected to be published at the time of writing) which takes into account:

the type of penetration
the emission or contact class of the ACD
the usage or manufacturing process
the collective or individual protective measures implemented
the duration of exposure

REMINDER: The thresholds established in this way are also used to calculate the proportion of employees exposed to occupational hardship factors, in order to determine which entities are required to negotiate a collective agreement or establish an action plan for the prevention of occupational hardship.

As a reminder, only private companies, industrial and commercial public establishments (EPIC), and administrative public establishments (EPA) employing private-law staff with a workforce of at least 50 employees are potentially subject to this obligation.

Likewise, a specific contribution is due from employers for any employee exposed beyond these thresholds.

Criteria for assessing worker exposure to occupational hardship factors

Each worker's exposure must be assessed by the employer based on the usual working conditions characterizing the position held, averaged over the year. To do this, the employer may rely on:

collective data, particularly through the identification and assessment of typical exposure situations, provided that this collective data is properly recorded in the appendix to the Single Document;
risk assessment support documents, particularly industry-specific guidelines, the list of which must be set by ministerial decree.

Another significant change concerns the inclusion of BOTH collective and individual protective measures when assessing exposure levels against hardship thresholds.

Indeed, until now, companies were instructed not to take individual protective equipment into account.

Taking individual protective equipment into account may have a particular impact on the assessment of noise and ACD factors.

Finally, when the minimum duration of exposure is calculated in hours per year, exceeding the threshold is assessed by aggregating the durations during which each of the actions takes place or is observed.

Exposure prevention records

An exposure prevention record, listing the factors to which the employee is exposed, must be formalized for any worker exposed to one or more hardship factors beyond the established thresholds.

What's new: this record now serves as the basis for allocating points to the personal hardship prevention account. Consequently, the data formalized in this way must be submitted to the National Old-Age Insurance Fund for Employees (CNAVTS), which is responsible for managing this account. This must be done as part of the annual social data declaration (DADS).

In practice, the employer must prepare the exposure prevention record and provide it to the worker at the end of each year, no later than January 31 of the following year. For workers whose contract ends during the calendar year, the record must be provided no later than the last day of the month following the end of the contract.

A copy of the record must also be provided to the worker in the event of a work stoppage:

of at least 30 days if the stoppage follows a work-related accident or occupational disease
of at least 3 months in other cases

Furthermore, the records must be made available to the relevant staff at all times.

Finally, the employer must retain the records for 5 years after the year in question (e.g., a record created for 2015 must be kept until the end of 2020).

Changes to the hardship prevention system

An instruction published on March 13 provides clarification on the implementation conditions for the hardship prevention process for the year 2015.

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