Chemical risk assessment for SMEs
Helping French SMEs evaluate chemical risks independently, through scientific UX design
Project
End-to-end product design
Team
PM, CPO, Devs, Toxicologists
Timeframe
Jan 2024 - Oct 2025
The Problem
A Critical Gap in Workplace Safety
Chemical products are the second cause of occupational illness in France. Yet compliance remains dangerously low, and existing solutions fail to address the real needs.
Compliance Gap
3%
/ 30%
Only 3% of the 30% of companies legally required to assess chemical risks actually comply
Annual Health Impact
1,800
Cancer cases per year caused by workplace chemical exposure in France
Support System
Overwhelmed
Health services legally responsible for supporting companies lack scalable tools
Competitor Analysis
Existing Tools Fall Short
Our research revealed significant gaps in the current market landscape
Seirich
Governmental Tool
Too complex and not user-friendly. Requires expert knowledge to navigate effectively.
Technical Solutions
Industry Tools
Overly technical language and complex interfaces inaccessible to non-specialists.
Premium Options
Consulting Services
Prohibitively expensive for small and medium-sized companies with limited budgets.
Project Goals
Dual Mission
For Companies
Design a scientifically accurate, intuitive and autonomous product for small and medium-sized companies, enabling them to complete a chemical risk assessment without expert assistance.
For Health Services
Help occupational health services: identify high-risk companies faster, reduce support time and provide better and more timely follow-up.
CHALLENGES
Key contraints
Complex Scientific Model
Complex scientific model (INRS method) to translate into UX
Diverse Audience
Target audience ranged from toxicologists to HR generalists
Balance Accuracy & Simplicity
Balancing scientific accuracy with simplicity
MY ROLE
Design ownership
Participated to the product definition & prioritization with PM & CPO
Ran benchmarks, extracted insights from existing tools
Designed each flow
Worked closely with devs to ensure feasibility and timelines
Participated in 3 beta testing phases alongside occupational health services and toxicologist
Led multiple user interviews and usability tests with small and medium-sized companies to validate the product in real-world contexts
Outcomes
Impact & Results
MVP Validated
By toxicologists and non-specialist users
~70% Reduction
FDS parser reduced manual input during inventory
1 confirmed adoption
1 Health service representing 4,000 companies confirmed adoption
Q1 2026 Launch
Final product ready for launch
Step 1
Employee Grouping
Enable companies of all sizes to quickly associate chemical risks with the right groups of employees, without requiring safety expertise.
Initial Observations & Research
Large companies needed detailed structures, while smaller ones needed simplicity
Starting from a blank page felt unnecessary and time-consuming
Key Decisions
Allowed users to reuse existing company structures from other parts of the application
Designed a 2-level grouping system adaptable to company size
Introduced filters and bulk actions to simplify employee assignment
User Insights
4.3/5
Avg. NPS (6 users)
"Simple and fast — Much clearer and more usable than Seirich."
Iterations & Next Steps
Implemented automatic deselection of employees once assigned
Improved visual feedback and validation messages
Automatically suggest only the groups exposed to chemical risk when importing
Step 2
Risk Evaluation
Allow non-expert users to evaluate chemical risks accurately while strictly respecting the scientific methodology.
Initial Observations & Research
The evaluation step is the core and most complex part of the product
Users often lacked field-level information and often lacked confidence in their answers
Key Decisions
Designed a guided questionnaire supported by clear wording, contextual explanations, and custom illustrations
The system calculates risk scores based on validated toxicology models in the background
User Insights
3/5
Avg. NPS (expected for a scientifically complex step)
"Simple and fast — Much clearer and more usable than Seirich."
"I don't understand the results. I need more transparency"
Iterations & Next Steps
Built a dedicated risk score explanation feature with top 3 risk factors and clear visual hierarchy
Created a task suggestion feature, tailored to the company's sector, to help users start from concrete examples
Step 3
Action plan
Help companies focus on what really matters: a small, high-impact action plan that can realistically be implemented.
Initial Observations & Research
Many companies already had generic action plans, but nothing specific to chemical risks
Users expected clear guidance, not another document to fill
Health services strongly emphasized that execution matters more than exhaustiveness
Key Decisions
Designed a Prevention Assistant as the core of the experience
Automatically ranked risks by severity, displayed only top 3 most critical risks by default
Generated highly specific prevention actions based on questionnaire answers
Clearly displayed the expected impact of each action on the risk level
User Insights
3.7/5
Avg. NPS (6 users)
"I like seeing the impact of each action."
Iterations & Next Steps
Improved visibility of the prevention assistant
Focus on addressing users' need for interoperability with existing tools and action plans