Occupational diseases are under-reported in France

2023-04-17 22:15:11

Illnesses and symptoms related to professional activity are under-reported in France by the first concerned, the employees. Identified for a long time, the phenomenon is however difficult to measure. Public Health France tackled it by setting up, in 2003, a monitoring program involving voluntary occupational physicians throughout the country. The results of this study, published Tuesday, April 18 in a report, provide the first elements of a quantified response.

This involved measuring work-related illnesses, i.e. all pathologies likely to be of work-related origin, but not recognized as such. by the social security or agricultural social insurance schemes. In other words, these illnesses were not the subject of a claim for compensation by the interested parties.

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The phenomenon of under-reporting of compensable occupational diseases appears to be very significant. “For diseases that fall under an occupational disease table, a large majority are not declared as such”, we read in the report of Public Health France. In the case of musculoskeletal disorders (low back pain, carpal tunnel syndrome), three-quarters of those corresponding to an occupational disease picture – according to the data recorded by the occupational physicians – have not been declared for recognition.

Gender differences

« The reason for non-declaration was in 35% of cases a lack of knowledge of the repair request process”, said, at a press conference, Juliette Chatelot, epidemiologist in the Quality of living and working environments and population health unit at Public Health France. Among the 20% of employees who chose not to report their occupational disease, half say they feared the possible consequences on their work, until the loss of employment. As for psychic suffering, which are the most frequent occupational diseases with musculoskeletal disorders, they simply do not appear in any table of occupational disease.

However, the prevalence of these pathologies, physical and psychological, that the program seeks to measure are significant… and on the rise. Reporting rates of work-related illnesses by occupational medicine almost doubled for women between 2007 and 2018, rising from 6.2% to 11.4%. In 2018, 6.2% of men going to occupational medicine were the subject of such a report, a percentage also rising sharply (4.9% in 2007). However, these increases in reporting cannot be interpreted as an equivalent increase in diseases.

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