How to Obtain the PRAP Authorisation for Your Training Organisation in 2026

Musculoskeletal disorders are the leading recognised occupational disease in France — nearly 9 out of 10, according to the statistics of the occupational-risks branch of the French health-insurance system (Assurance Maladie – Risques professionnels). The PRAP scheme — prévention des risques liés à l’activité physique, or physical-activity risk prevention — is the prevention network’s structured answer to that problem, and a solid market for training organisations. On one condition: being authorised. Here is how to obtain that authorisation in 2026.

What the authorisation allows — and what it demands

The PRAP authorisation is a national permission issued by the Assurance Maladie – Risques professionnels / INRS network (the INRS is France’s national occupational-safety research institute). It lets you deliver PRAP action-training — courses that turn employees into active players in preventing physical-activity risks — and issue the national acteur PRAP (PRAP worker) certificates, valid for 24 months.

It is requested per stream:

• PRAP IBC: industry, construction, retail and office activities. A 14-hour worker course (2 days), with a 7-hour refresher — the MAC, for maintien-actualisation des compétences — every 24 months.
• PRAP 2S: health and social care. A 28-hour worker course (4 days) incorporating assisted-mobility support (ALM), with a 14-hour refresher.

In return, the authorised organisation commits to the INRS reference documents (durations, competency and certification frameworks, session organisation rules) and manages its entire activity — declaring sessions, closing them, issuing certificates — in the national FORPREV tool.

The key point: without authorisation, any “PRAP course” you sell leads to no valid certificate. The mechanics mirror the SST authorisation — but each scheme requires its own authorisation.

Condition 1: a certified PRAP trainer for the target stream

This is the heart of the file, and the longest lead-time item if you start from scratch. Your organisation must have at least one PRAP trainer holding the network-issued certificate, currently valid (36 months), for the stream you apply for — an IBC certificate does not cover the 2S stream, and vice versa.

Two routes:

• Train a member of your team. Prerequisite: completing the INRS online self-training module « Acquérir des bases en prévention des risques professionnels » (basics of occupational-risk prevention), or the equivalent course run by the regional funds’ prevention services. Then the trainer course itself: at least 70 hours for the IBC stream, 98 hours for 2S, in non-consecutive weeks with fieldwork between sessions. The full pathway is described in our article on becoming a PRAP trainer.
• Hire or contract a trainer who is already certified. Faster — check the certificate’s validity, the stream it covers and the date of the next trainer refresher (21 hours every 36 months for IBC, 28 hours for 2S).

Condition 2: a compliant organisation and compliant sessions

For a training organisation, the administrative prerequisite is simple: holding a valid NDA (numéro de déclaration d’activité, the registered training-provider number). Companies can also be authorised to train their own employees in-house — same tool, same rules.

Your file must then show you can run action-training that follows the reference documents: an active pedagogy anchored in trainees’ real work situations, not a lecture on lifting loads. That demand is not gratuitous: the work of Roquelaure and colleagues on the epidemiologic surveillance of musculoskeletal disorders in the French working population, published in 2006 in Arthritis Care & Research (see the study), documented how prevalent these disorders are among employees and how much work-activity factors weigh — and it is precisely on those work situations that PRAP action-training makes trainees work.

The FORPREV application, step by step

1. Read the specifications (cahiers des charges): the network-wide “general provisions” document, then the PRAP-specific one. They list the administrative and technical-pedagogical evidence required.
2. Create your entity’s account in FORPREV (legal identity, contact details, responsible person).
3. Assemble the file: organisation profile, NDA, certified PRAP trainer(s) for the stream, technical-pedagogical elements.
4. Submit the request for the target domain and stream. It is examined by the national authorisation commission (Commission nationale d’habilitation), under the scheme’s authorisation rules.
5. Once approved, the authorisation is registered for 5 years: you declare sessions, close them and issue certificates in the tool. Day-to-day use of the platform is covered in our FORPREV walkthrough.

Note the 5-year expiry as soon as you are authorised: renewal is requested through FORPREV, domain by domain.

Where does Qualiopi fit in?

The authorisation answers “am I allowed to deliver PRAP training and issue the certificates?”. Qualiopi answers “can my services be paid for with public or pooled funds?”. If your clients have their PRAP courses funded by their OPCO (skills operator) — a frequent case — you need both.

The scheme’s rigour works in your favour at audit time: national frameworks, trainer qualification and FORPREV traceability feed your evidence for the 32 indicators of the French national quality framework.

The classic pitfalls

• Applying without an up-to-date certified trainer for the right stream: the file cannot succeed.
• Mixing up IBC and 2S: align trainer, file and commercial offer on the same stream.
• Discovering the specifications after filing: read them first — they are your preparation checklist.
• Communicating too early: advertising “PRAP training” before authorisation exposes you legally and commercially.
• Forgetting the funding side: without Qualiopi, no OPCO coverage, even when authorised.

Take action

The PRAP authorisation is built in order: the stream, the trainer, the FORPREV file, then launch. Our PRAP authorisation page gathers the scheme on one page — conditions, steps, FAQ — and gives you access to our complete guide to get through each stage without missteps.