Workplace risk assessment in construction: best practices in 2026

The single occupational risk assessment document (DUERP, in French law) lists every risk your employees are exposed to, site by site and role by role. It is mandatory for any employer from the moment the first employee is hired, under articles L4121-3 and R4121-1 of the French Labour Code.

It is not a binder formality. The assessment must lead to concrete action. Since the law of 2 August 2021, companies with at least 50 employees set out these actions in a PAPRIPACT (annual prevention programme); smaller ones keep a list of prevention measures recorded in the document.

Having no DUERP exposes the employer to a fine, but above all to the risk of 'inexcusable fault' in the event of an accident — a major issue in a sector where serious incidents remain frequent.

Construction concentrates risks the assessment must cover precisely. Falls from height remain the leading cause of serious and fatal accidents in the sector: scaffolding, roofs, floor openings, ladders. Next come manual handling tasks, the source of many musculoskeletal disorders.

Chemical risk is often underestimated: asbestos in renovation, crystalline silica when cutting or sanding, wood dust, solvents. Add to that noise, vibration, electrical risk, the movement of machinery and co-activity — the simultaneous presence of several trades on the same site.

For each risk, the assessment cross-references severity and likelihood in order to prioritise. The OPPBTP and your Carsat publish sector-specific tools so that nothing is forgotten.

A useful assessment follows a simple logic. You begin by breaking the company down into work units — by trade, by type of site or by role. For each, you identify the hazards, then rate the risk according to its severity and how often workers are exposed.

This rating is what lets you prioritise. There is no point in tackling everything at once: you start with the most serious and most likely risks. Each priority risk maps to an action — collective protection first (guardrails, extraction at source), personal protective equipment next, training and organisation last.

The social and economic committee (CSE), where one exists, is involved in drafting and updating the document. Bringing the workers into the process markedly improves the quality of the assessment: they are the ones who know the real gestures of the job.

The assessment is updated at least once a year for companies with eleven or more employees, and whenever a significant change occurs: a new site with a different profile, new equipment, a new procedure, or after a workplace accident.

The 2021 law tightened traceability. The document and its successive versions must be kept for at least 40 years, to preserve a record of exposures — essential for delayed-effect risks such as asbestos. A digital filing on a national portal is planned, rolled out gradually according to company size.

In practice, the best assessment is not the thickest one: it is the one that lives. Dated, shared with the teams and tied to actions that are followed up, it protects your employees as much as your own liability.