The algorithmic management of platforms like Uber Eats and Deliveroo, which encourages people to shop in bulk, poses health risks to food delivery workers, a health agency warned Wednesday.
From the allocation of trips to payment arrangements and sanctions, everything is managed by automated processes, with physical and mental risks to the health of delivery drivers, reports ANSES.
“ We bomb, we take risks, it's the application that wants it, but it's super dangerous", Vany, a delivery driver since 2016 for various platforms, including Deliveroo and Uber Eats, told AFP.
Several times, Vany made " small falls", forcing him to go " work with a limp, but every year delivery people die taking risks. I think about it oftent,” says the man who shares his daily life as a delivery man on social media.
For Henri Bastos, scientific director of health and work at ANSES, " With this use of digital technologies to assign work tasks, evaluate them, monitor workers' performance, and sanction them, delivery people have no room for maneuver, no room for negotiation, nor support from a physical person who could respond to the difficulties encountered on the ground." he describes to AFP.
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This results in road accidents, falls, musculoskeletal disorders and mental health problems: " stress, fatigue, exhaustion linked to the constant pressure of notifications, isolation and the lack of stable professional relationships“.
Platform delivery drivers also suffer from sleep disorders, metabolic, respiratory or cardiovascular diseases linked to working atypical hours, in a difficult working environment: urban pollution, noise, etc.
"Insufficient protection"
There are also " socio-family consequences: to ensure a decent standard of living, delivery drivers will accept a large number of errands and therefore have significant working hours, sometimes working 7 days a week", notes Mr. Bastos.
“ Having a social life is very hard", confirms Vany, who delivers in the La Défense business district generally from 7:45 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. and then from 6:30 p.m. to 10:00 p.m., every weekday and Saturday evening.
Mostly self-employed, these workers do not benefit from " neither an adequate risk prevention policy nor sufficient social protection", underlines ANSES. There is no obligation to report their work accidents.
“ The disadvantages of self-employment should normally be offset by income, but this is no longer the case.", reports Vany.
Furthermore, the regulatory context for this activity is under construction.
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Effective legislation remains to be built
On a French scale, where An agreement between platforms and unions setting a minimum hourly wage was recently signed, and European, with Member States having two years to integrate into their legislation the directive of November 2024 strengthening the rights of these workers.
This text plans to reclassify as employees some five of the 30 million delivery drivers working under independent status in Europe. The reclassification procedures depend on the individual states, which allows ANSES to formulate recommendations.
The agency therefore recommends that public authorities make it compulsory, for these workers, the application of the health and safety provisions provided for employees in the Labor Code and to impose " a limitation and control of their working time“.
Anses calls for platforms to be held accountable to ensure the protection of the health and safety of these workers", summarizes Mr. Bastos.
Finally, the health agency wants to make data collection mandatory to continue documenting the effects of this work organization.
Saluting " quality » of the report, the CGT calls, in a press release published on Wednesday, on the government to adopt " urgently ambitious social protection legislation » delivery people.
For the Union-Independents, " This expertise confirms what we have been denouncing for a long time: current working conditions are degrading the health of delivery drivers, both physically and mentally.t ».
The union is calling on the public authorities to "impose strict transparency rules " to the platforms, from " ensure real protection in terms of health and safety » to the delivery people and « to integrate the conclusions of ANSES into the transposition of the European directive“.
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