Workplace accidents decline more sharply at companies that introduce new prevention measures, according to an analysis by Dares (Direction de l’animation de la recherche, des études et des statistiques), the research department of the French Ministry of Labour. Notably, it is mainly small businesses that benefit, and personal protective equipment — ironically the lowest rung of the prevention hierarchy — is associated with the largest drop in accidents. The findings are relevant beyond France: the same prevention hierarchy, which gives source-based measures priority over protective equipment, also underlies EU occupational safety directives.
Smaller Companies See the Biggest Gains
According to Dares, the decline in accident rates — the number of workplace accidents measured over a given period — is most clearly visible at small establishments. That is notable because earlier Dares research into employers’ prevention behaviour already showed that smaller companies are generally slower to adopt prevention measures than large organisations. When they do act, the effect on accident figures appears proportionally larger than at companies where prevention policy was already more developed.
Protective Equipment, Risk Assessment and Employee Voice
The strongest link to a drop in accidents is found in the introduction of new personal protective equipment (PPE, known in France as EPI, équipements de protection individuelle). That is remarkable, since PPE is seen in the international prevention hierarchy as the last line of defence — to be used only after risks have been tackled at the source. Yet in the Dares figures, the purchase of new PPE is associated with the biggest improvement, possibly because PPE can be introduced relatively quickly and visibly, whereas structural changes to work processes require more time and investment before their effect shows up in the accident figures.
Dares also names three other factors that contribute to fewer accidents: measures against stress and workplace discomfort, an updated DUERP (document unique d’évaluation des risques professionnels, the document French employers are legally required to use to map and keep up to date all occupational risks), and the presence of employee representation. The latter two factors also emerged in earlier Dares research: companies with employee representation more often implement prevention measures, while a large share of companies do not regularly update their DUERP, despite the legal obligation.
Context
Dares’ findings fit a cautiously declining trend in official French accident statistics. According to Dares’ own figures, France recorded around 668,510 workplace accidents involving at least one day of absence in 2023, a decline of roughly 2 percent compared with 2022 (about 679,000 cases). Figures fluctuated sharply in the preceding years: an 18 percent drop in the pandemic year 2020, followed by an 11 percent rise in 2021 and a renewed 6 percent decline in 2022. The healthcare and social-work, retail and vehicle-repair, and construction sectors remain the hardest hit. Dares itself notes that changes in counting methods and data sources make year-on-year comparisons more difficult, which underscores the value of research that not only tracks the figures but also explains which prevention measures are actually associated with fewer accidents.
Source: La sinistralité recule là où la prévention progresse, 1 October 2026
Additionally researched: Axia Consultants on Dares research into employers’ prevention behaviour, UNCCAS on the same Dares study and TPE Actu on the official 2023 Dares accident figures
