Arthur, who died at work at 14, Lorenzo at 15... Why are young people the first victims?

There was Arthur, who died at the age of 14 from a mechanical arm in Hauts-de-France in 2017. Or Tom, an 18-year-old apprentice who died in 2021 in a slaughterhouse in Côtes-d'Armor. Between circular saws, falling roofs, and heavy machinery... the risks faced by minors in their workplaces are very real. Although regulated, their apprenticeship must be even more protected, demands the CGT.

On construction sites, there is an "old working-class culture. Anyone who hasn't been injured isn't a real worker," says Gérald Le Corre of the CGT-TEFP (Work, Employment, Vocational Training) union. The same rule applies to younger workers. Construction, carpentry, and agriculture are among the sectors with the highest accident rates, for both apprentices and employees.

Young employees aged 15 to 24 are victims of a greater number of workplace accidents than other categories of employees, according to the Directorate General of Labor. The reason is inexperience, according to the ministry: "Workplace accidents among those under 25 occur more often within twelve months of starting a job, compared to the general working population. More than half of employees under 25 who died at work had less than one year of seniority."

For its part, the INRS (National Institute for Research and Safety) is categorical: the frequency of workplace accidents for young people under 25 was 10% per year in 2018. This is 2.5 times higher than the number of accidents among all employees (around 4%). In 2023, 38 young people died in the workplace, compared to 43 in 2022.

Gérald Le Corre believes that even today, "young people are considered cheap labor, with a very precarious situation, because they do not dare to exercise their right of withdrawal. These accidents could be avoided." A view shared by Virginie Caron, federal secretary of the FNSCBA-CGT. "There are indeed safety quarter-hours organized in companies, but it is once a week, and even then."

She advocates for better safety training in CFA (apprentice training centers) and for more rigorous supervision of young people in employment. Prevention efforts are worth the effort: nearly 878,900 young people are on apprenticeship contracts, out of the 4.2 million adolescents in France (2024).

In 2023, the French health insurance system committed € 72 million in financial aid to support VSEs and SMEs in their investments in risk prevention for all their employees. This is insufficient for Gérald Le Corre, who believes that "non-compliance with safety instructions is not a matter of financial constraints. There is a lack of frequent inspections. In some cases, a single labor inspector covers 1,200 companies. There is also a real problem of sanctions for employers. There is no political priority" on the issue, he laments.

However, the Labor Code is clear: "Young workers may be assigned to light work. It is prohibited to assign them to dangerous work" (demolition work, felling, pruning, etc.). But in 2015, the Valls government changed the situation regarding safety regulations. Since the Rebsamen decree of April 17, 2015, workplace regulations have been relaxed.

For "the purposes of their professional training" , apprentices can be assigned, "via an exemption procedure" , to dangerous handling tasks, such as the assembly and dismantling of scaffolding, confined work in wells, gas pipes or even sewers... Virginie Caron explains: "These exemptions exist. But the employer must ensure that they are granted under valid safety conditions, particularly for machines. However, this is not the case." The CGT would like to reverse these decrees.

For carcinogenic substances , it's worse. "For the past ten years, a series of decrees has considerably relaxed employers' obligations towards these young employees," explains Anne Marchand, a sociologist at the University of Paris-Saclay. Companies are no longer required to request an exemption from the labor inspectorate to expose apprentices to carcinogenic products. "All that is now required is a simple declaration." "The employer still remains responsible for the safety of their team," points out Virginie Caron.

Aware of these shortcomings, the General Directorate of Labor (DGT) launched a plan for the prevention of serious and fatal accidents at work (PATGM) in 2023. The Ministry of Labor states that "more than one million students and apprentices of vocational aptitude certificates (CAP) / vocational baccalaureate have received dedicated training in occupational health and safety " in 2024 thanks to this system.

The PATGM raises awareness, in particular, about exposure to extreme heat and illnesses leading to death. Every day in France, more than 100 workers are seriously injured, and two die, according to official figures.

The first element of the response is that nearly 180 labor inspectors "will take up their posts in the summer of 2025 and 159 student inspectors are currently in training to take up their posts in the summer of 2026," states the DGT. The objective is to deploy labor inspection officers next year to vocational high school students, "in order to raise their awareness of occupational risks and inform them of their rights."