What are the mandatory occupational health and safety (OHS) registers and documents?

To protect employees' health, employers must keep a number of mandatory registers on safety and occupational risk prevention.

Clara Godin
Environmental & occupational health & safety lawyer
Update : 
12.09.2025
Publication: 
17.02.2025
Contents
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To ensure the health and safety of workers, and monitor risk prevention within the company, the employer must draw up and regularly complete a number of registers. In this article, you'll find the mandatory OHS registers and documents:

  • safety register ;
  • the DUERP (single document for assessing occupational risks);
  • register of serious and imminent danger ;
  • work accident declarations ;
  • documents from the occupational physician ;
  • observations and warnings from the labor inspectorate.

What is an OHS register?

OHS registers are documents that contain a wealth of information on risk prevention in the workplace. These documents are drawn up by the employer and contain, for example, the risks to which workers are exposed, risk-prevention actions carried out within the company, reports of periodic general inspections (VGP), workplace accidents, etc.

These registers are essential tools for monitoring risk prevention and proving company compliance.

🔍 Focus: According to the French Labor Code , OHS registers can be drawn up in different formats, such as paper or digital.. Nevertheless, the chosen medium must enable all mandatory information to be obtained without difficulty of use or comprehension, and without risk of altering the information contained (Article D8113-2 C.trav.).

In addition, the correct keeping of OHS registers is mandatory in order to be able to justify the company's compliance in terms of health and safety at work.

During their visits, labor inspectors must have access to registers, certificates, instructions, results and reports relating to OHS(Article L4711-3 C.trav.).

Safety register

The safety register brings together a number of registers relating to the safety of the company's workplaces, installations and equipment(Article L4711-5 C.trav.). In particular, it contains :

  • fire register ;
  • electrical register ;
  • register of work equipment checks.

The safety register is not in itself an obligation (Article L4711-5 C.trav.). It does, however, enable the employer to combine several mandatory registers into a single register, to make it easier to keep and consult this information.

⚠️ Attention: Certificates, instructions, results and reports relating to checks and inspections in the safety register must be dated and include the identity of the person or organization responsible for the inspection or verification. (Article D4711-2 C.trav.).

Electrical register

The electrical register records the conformity of the company's electrical installations. It lists the results of initial and periodic inspections of these installations, and contains proof of any work or modifications carried out(Article R4226-19 C.trav.). It must be kept by all companies with electrical installations.

This register must also contain reports drawn up by the accredited body that carried out the checks, where applicable.

Fire register

The fire register is a document that documents the prevention of fire hazards within the company. All companies are required to draw up this register whenever they use premises or buildings.

The fire register contains the dates of periodic fire drills, observations made during periodic inspections of fire-fighting equipment, the names of persons in charge of fire safety, fire instructions and evacuation instructions(Article R4227-39 C.trav.).

Register of periodic and initial inspections

The register of periodic and initial inspections contains the results of mandatory inspections of work equipment and installations(Article R4323-25 C.trav.).

All companies using work equipment subject to such checks must keep this register.

Other registers

The safety register can also include other, less common registers, depending on the company's sector of activity.

For example, it may include examinations of the walls and roofs of underground shafts and galleries(Article R4534-41 C.trav.).

Note: in practice, these registers are often made up of dematerialized documents (e.g. inspection reports, follow-up of discrepancies via spreadsheet or CMMS, fire reports, etc.).

Occupational risk assessment document (DUERP)

The DUERP is the reference document for any occupational risk prevention initiative. It serves as a guide and enables clear monitoring of the progress of prevention within the company.

The DUERP contains(Article L4121-3-1 C.trav.) :

  • the results of the occupational risk assessment;
  • action plan and preventive measures;
  • for companies with at least 50 employees, the annual program to prevent occupational risks and improve working conditions (PAPRIPACT).

All companies are required to draw up a DUERP, which must be kept up to date (Article R4121-2 C.Trav.):

  • at least once a year in companies with at least eleven employees;
  • every time there is a significant change in working conditions;
  • when the employer becomes aware of additional information on an occupational hazard present in the company.

🔍 Focus: The DUERP must be kept for a period of 40 years and must be made available to workers and former workers, members of the CSE, the occupational health and prevention service (SPST) and the labor inspectorate (Article R4121-4 C.trav.).

Documents relating to industrial accidents

Work accident declaration

When a work-related accident results in either sick leave or medical treatment, the employer must declare it to the Caisse primaire d'assurance maladie (CPAM) within 48 hours(Article R441-3 CSS) or MSA (Mutualité Sociale Agricole) for the agricultural scheme.

⚠️ Attention: Copies of these work accident declarations must be kept by the employer for at least five years. (Article D4711-3 C.trav.).

In addition, the employer must issue an accident form to the victim to enable him/her to receive compensation(Article L441-5 CSS.).

Register of minor accidents

The benign accident register lists all accidents that do not result in lost time or medical treatment.

Employers authorized to keep this register must meet the following conditions(Article D441-1 C.trav.):

  • have a doctor, pharmacist, state-registered nurse or person in charge of health and safety on the premises at all times;
  • an emergency first-aid station ;
  • have a CSE.

For these employers, when a workplace accident occurs but does not result in lost time or medical treatment, they can replace the accident declaration with an entry in the register of minor accidents(Article L441-4 CSS). The employer must nevertheless notify the CSE.

🔍 Focus: When an accident recorded in the register of minor accidents subsequently results in time off work or medical treatment , the employer must declare the accident to the CPAM..

Register of serious and imminent dangers and public health and environmental alert register

Register of serious and imminent dangers

The register of serious and imminent dangers lists the dangers reported to the employer by a member of the social and economic committee (CSE)(Article L4132-2 C.trav.). The CSE member's notice must be dated and signed, and must indicate(Article D4132-1 C.trav.) :

  • the workstations affected by the observed hazard;
  • the nature and cause of this danger;
  • the names of exposed workers.

Register pages must be numbered and stamped by the CSE.

Public health and environment alert register

The public health and environment alert register contains alerts reported either by an employee or by a member of the CSE(Article D4133-1 C.trav.).

The pages of this register must be numbered.

The alert recorded in this register must be dated and signed, and must indicate :

  • products or manufacturing processes that present a serious risk to public health or the environment;
  • any potential consequences for public health or the environment;
  • any other information needed to assess the alert.

Occupational physician's documents

The documents drawn up by the occupational health physician enable us to monitor workers' state of health and improve occupational risk prevention. They are therefore one of the essential documents in OHS.

Medical follow-up documents

Certificates of individual health monitoring are issued by the occupational health and prevention service's health professional at the end of any information and prevention visit (Article R4624-14 C.trav.). For workers undergoing individual health monitoring, the occupational physician may issue an opinion of fitness or unfitness.

Occupational physician's company sheet

The company file is drawn up by the occupational physician(Article R4624-46 C.trav.). It contains details of occupational hazards and the number of employees exposed to them. It is sent to the employer and presented to the CSE at the same time as the annual report.

Observations and warnings from the labor inspectorate

The employer must keep all observations and notices issued by the labor inspectorate concerning OHS(Article L4711-2 C.trav.).

The employer must also keep a record of all observations and notices issued in connection with audits and inspections over the past five years (Article D4711-3 C.trav.).

In a nutshell:

❖ Employers must keep several mandatory registers to ensure the health and safety of workers.

❖ In particular, the employer must draw up and keep up to date the DUERP, the safety register and the register of serious and imminent dangers.

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