What the French Labour Code says

Article L. 4121-1 requires every employer to take the measures needed to ensure the safety and protect the health of employees. Organising first aid is part of this duty.

Article R. 4224-15 goes further: a member of staff must be trained in first aid in every workshop where dangerous work is carried out, and on every site employing at least 20 workers for more than 15 days where dangerous work is carried out.

Finally, article R. 4224-16 requires the employer, where there is no nurse, to take the measures needed to ensure first aid, after consulting the occupational physician.

In practice, when does it apply?

  • Dangerous work in a workshop: at least one trained employee is mandatory.
  • Sites with 20 or more workers for more than 15 days with dangerous work: same obligation.
  • Offices, shops, healthcare facilities, schools: no set quota, but the employer must be able to organise first aid at all times.

In practice, training Workplace First Aiders (SST) is the simplest and most widely recognised way to meet this general duty.

How many employees should be trained?

No rule sets a percentage for every workplace. The goal is for a first aider to be present and available at all times, on every site and for every team.

Think about shift work, holidays, remote work and isolated sites: it is better to train several employees per team than one for the whole company.

Course length and validity

  • Initial course: 14 hours over 2 days, for a group of 4 to 10 participants.
  • Workplace First Aider certificate valid for 24 months.
  • MAC SST refresher: 7 hours every 24 months to keep the certificate.