Section 3: Staff working in occupational health services

Occupational physicians are recruited from among doctors who meet the conditions laid down in Article R. 4623-2.

The certificate of special studies in occupational medicine and the diploma of specialised studies in occupational medicine are not compulsory for doctors in charge of a preventive medicine service for staff in service on 8 September 1985.

The occupational physician is bound by a contract concluded with the establishment responsible for managing the occupational health and prevention service in accordance with a model contract drawn up by joint order of the ministers responsible for health and labour.

The establishment informs the establishment’s technical committee, the social and economic committee and the regional director of companies, competition, consumption, labour and employment of the appointment or recruitment of the occupational physician. Without prejudice to the regulatory provisions applicable in disciplinary matters to the staff referred to in article L. 952-21 of the Education Code and in 1° of article L. 6152-1 of the Public Health Code, the decision to…

The occupational health physician personally carries out all of his duties. In the establishments for which he is responsible, these functions are exclusive of any other function likely to call into question the independence of the occupational health physician provided for in article L. 4622-4 or which derogates from article R. 4127-99 of the Public Health Code. However, the occupational health physician may entrust certain activities, under his responsibility and…

In university hospital centres, the duties of occupational health physician may be entrusted to a university professor-hospital practitioner in occupational medicine under the conditions defined in articles R. 4626-12 and R. 4626-13. In this case, the provisions of articles R. 4623-4 and R. 4626-9 do not apply.

The independent occupational health and prevention service has at least one full-time occupational physician for every one thousand five hundred employees. For any number of employees or fraction thereof below one thousand five hundred, a part-time occupational physician is used. The threshold of one thousand five hundred employees is raised to two thousand when the autonomous occupational health and prevention service is assisted by the multidisciplinary team made up of…

When the autonomous occupational health and prevention service comprises several doctors, the administrative coordination of their activities may be entrusted to one of them.

In the case of an autonomous occupational health and prevention service set up by agreement between several establishments, the time spent travelling is counted as part of the doctor’s working time.