France’s Institut national de recherche et de sécurité (INRS) has issued a short bulletin once again drawing attention to the employer’s role in preventing suicide at work. The item falls under the category of psychosocial risks (PSR) and was published as a brief news flash by trade outlet actuEL-HSE.fr on 11 September 2026.
What the INRS says
The INRS has long treated work-related suicide as a theme within its work on psychosocial risks. On its own information page dedicated to the subject, the institute stresses that a suicide (attempt) occurring in the workplace, or demonstrably linked to working conditions, can be recognised in France as a workplace accident. This places an investigative duty on employers: the circumstances must be examined, including through the social and economic committee (CSE) and its associated health, safety and working conditions commission.
This approach is in line with the broader efforts of both the INRS and the French Ministry of Labour, which has previously published practical tools to help employers with prevention and with responding to a suicide (attempt) in the workplace.
The employer’s role
The core message is that employers carry a statutory safety obligation that extends to employees’ mental health, not only their physical safety. In practice, this means that psychosocial risks must be systematically identified and included in the risk assessment (in France, the DUERP), that preventive measures must be taken against excessive workload, social isolation and organisational stressors, and that a protocol must be in place in case a suicide or suicide attempt nonetheless occurs.
For EHS professionals outside France, this is relevant because comparable obligations, albeit with different legal implementation, also apply elsewhere in the EU under Framework Directive 89/391/EEC on occupational safety and health. In many countries, psychosocial risks are still less firmly embedded in practice than physical risks, even though the consequences can be just as serious. A periodic reaffirmation from an authoritative body such as the INRS is therefore a good moment to review one’s own PSR policy, reporting procedures and support for managers on this topic.
Source: Suicide au travail : l’INRS rappelle le rôle de l’employeur, 11 September 2026, https://actuel-hse.fr/content/suicide-au-travail-linrs-rappelle-le-role-de-lemployeur-0
Additional research: Suicide en lien avec le travail – Risques psychosociaux, INRS (inrs.fr/risques/suicide-travail/ce-qu-il-faut-retenir.html), La prévention du suicide au travail, Ministère du Travail et des Solidarités (travail-emploi.gouv.fr/la-prevention-du-suicide-au-travail)
