Becoming an occupational and psychosocial risk consultant

Chronic stress, burnout, harassment, violence, conflict, loss of meaning: psychosocial risks have become a major issue for companies, which have a legal duty to protect their employees’ physical and mental health. The occupational risk consultant helps organisations assess and prevent them. When specialised in psychosocial risks, it is one of the jobs where a background in work psychology is most directly useful. This profile is part of our guide to careers in psychology.

What does an occupational risk consultant do?

The occupational risk consultant helps employers identify risks to their employees’ health and safety and put prevention actions in place. These risks may be physical, chemical, organisational or psychosocial. A consultant specialising in psychosocial risks deals with stress, burnout, internal and external violence, harassment, and the organisational factors that cause them: workload, lack of autonomy, conflicts of values, insecurity.

A legal framework

The French Labour Code requires employers to take the necessary measures to protect workers’ physical and mental health, and to assess risks in a single document. Companies can call on external practitioners to help them.

What are the duties of an occupational risk consultant?

• Carry out an assessment: interviews, questionnaires, observation of work, analysis of indicators (absenteeism, turnover, sick leave).
• Present the results to management, staff representatives and employees.
• Build a prevention plan with the organisation.
• Train managers and teams: stress prevention, spotting warning signs, conflict management.
• Support organisations after a serious incident or during a reorganisation.

Skills and qualities of an occupational risk consultant

The job requires knowledge of work psychology, work organisation and occupational health law, command of survey methods, listening skills and neutrality, and the ability to talk with management as well as staff representatives.

What psychology brings

Work psychology provides the reference models on stress, burnout and psychosocial risk factors, as well as interview and analysis methods. It helps move from an individual approach (« this employee is fragile ») to an organisational one (« what in the work is causing this suffering? »).

Studies and training to become an occupational risk consultant

No specific diploma is required to work in this job, as an employee or self-employed; IPRP registration, described below, is not a diploma. In practice, employers usually look for a master’s degree in work psychology, ergonomics, occupational health and safety or human resources with a prevention specialisation. To work as an external IPRP in France, you must register with the regional labour authority (DREETS), with proof of a diploma or experience in health, safety or work organisation (article D4644-6 of the Labour Code).

Studying at ESPÉ

ESPÉ’s programmes prepare for this job: the MSc in Psychology and HR Management, a work-study double degree with EBS Paris, combines psychology applied to work with human resources management. It prepares for the challenges of quality of working life and psychosocial risk prevention.

Pay and working conditions of an occupational risk consultant

Pay depends on the firm or company and the region. Job offers published on France Travail and Apec give up-to-date ranges. The job involves travelling to clients and assignments of varying length.

Career prospects for an occupational risk consultant

With experience, the consultant can become a manager in a firm, head of health and quality of working life in a company, or set up their own firm. They can also move into HR consulting or HR development.

Why become an occupational risk consultant?

It is a job in high demand, which acts on how work is organised to prevent suffering rather than repair it. For someone trained in psychology who wants to work with companies, it is one of the most coherent career paths.