Magazine 11 - Healthy Workplaces. Good for you. Good for bussiness

Chapters in this Publication

Chapter 01. Risk assessment in small and medium-sized enterprises SMEs UEAPME´s point of view

The health and safety policy in a SME demands a different approach from that of a big company. There are many differences between SMEs and their larger counterparts, and this must be taken into account when assessing risks in SMEs. Read more...

Chapter 02. Workers and_safety representatives´ participation: the key to success in risk assessment

Promoting a participatory risk assessment is certainly the most promising alternative to a formal and bureaucratic concept of risk assessment. The justification for this proposal can be summarised in two words: interest and knowledge. Workers have a clear interest in improving prevention. Their interest in changing working conditions can be based on first-hand knowledge of such conditions. When it comes to defining work-related health problems and finding solutions to them, the collective expertise of workers is no less than that of the specialists. More systematic participation by workers and their representatives in all the stages of risk assessment is an alternative to outsourcing the process to consultants. Read more...

Chapter 03. Digital Risk Inventory and Evaluation (RIE): a Dutch approach offering valuable support for small business owners

The Dutch Working Conditions Act requires employers to perform a Risk Inventory and Evaluation (RIE). Until recently, small business owners in particular were unhappy about this rather time-consuming obligation. However, the introduction of digital RIE instruments disseminated through the web has simplified the process enormously. This approach is strongly supported and subsidised by the Dutch ministry of Social Affairs and Employment. This article describes the background and development of the digital RIE approach in the Netherlands, focusing particularly on the SMEs sector. Read more...

Chapter 04. Challenges in getting SMEs to draw up a risk assessment

This article explains the Danish Working Environment Authority’s approach to getting small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to carry out a risk assessment. The Danish Working Environment Authority has drawn up a series of sector-oriented working environment guidelines and risk assessment checklists aimed at helping SMEs to draw up such assessments. Read more...

Chapter 05. Even micro-businesses can do risk assessments. A joint action by the Berlin and Brandenburg health and safety authorities and employers´ liability insurance association

The Berlin and Brandenburg health and safety authorities are currently implementing a programme for ‘Risk assessment and implementation of health and safety measures in micro-businesses’ together with the Employers’ Liability Insurance Association (BG) for the Building and Construction Trade (BG BAU), the North German BG for the Metal Trade, the BG for the Quarry Trade, the BG for the Precision and Electrical Engineering Trade and the BG for Administrative Occupations. This joint action is based on a cooperation agreement between the German federal states (Länder) and the BGs involved, as well as a jointly developed basic understanding regarding the implementation of risk assessment in businesses. The aim of the action is to determine health risks in micro-businesses in the Berlin-Brandenburg region in a more systematic manner, to better identify these risks and, on that basis, to make the right decisions regarding health and safety measures. Read more...

Chapter 06. Demystifying risk assessment - keeping it simple, concentrating on action

The process of risk assessment is often viewed as mystifying or too technical, and requiring expert input. A particularly hazardous or complex process, such as that of a petrochemical plant, will need great expertise and attention to detail, but that isn’t the case for the vast majority of businesses. In Britain, the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has sought to demystify the risk assessment process in three ways – firstly through clearer guidance, secondly by showing by example what is expected and thirdly by using a bit of humour to correct some of the popular myths and misconceptions about health and safety requirements. Read more...

Chapter 07. An IT application for identifying and assessing risks in SMEs

This IT application is the fifth and latest edition of one of the most widely circulated simplified risk assessment tools used in Spain. Published by the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Hygiene, the resource facilitates the identification of risk factors and their assessment and provides the corresponding corrective and audit measures for appropriate management. Read more...

Chapter 08. An Austrian booklet on risk prevention

Since 1995, the Austrian Federal Chamber of Labour (BAK) has published a regularly revised booklet entitled Identifying Risk – Avoiding Risk in conjunction with the Austrian Trade Union Federation (ÖGB) and the Austrian Federal Economic Chamber (WKÖ). The current edition appeared in January 2007. The booklet is designed to help determine risk in the workplace and includes the most important provisions for examining workstations with respect to safety and health protection. It has a clear format, making it practical for evaluation purposes, and provides background information as well as technical details. Read more...

Chapter 09. A slovenian risk assessment method

This article sets out the representative method applying to the production, content and use of a safety statement and risk assessment in Slovenia. The risk assessment method was developed by the Institute of Occupational, Traffic and Sports Medicine in Slovenia, and used to define the level of risk to health in various occupations in Slovenian industry. The method is also of assistance in the process of rehabilitating working environments, reducing the level of risk to workers and introducing measures to humanise work. Read more...

Chapter 10. Developing workplace risk assessment in Finland

In Finland, systematic risk assessment in the field of occupational safety and health (OSH) started with the prevention of major accidents. Over the years the focus has shifted to the assessment of working conditions and prevention of accidents, whether minor or major. Today workplace risk assessments are required by law, but more and more companies are also making efforts to improve their safety on a voluntary basis. In developing risk assessment methods, the biggest challenge at the moment is to improve their quality and ease of use. This should in turn increase the quantity and quality of risk assessments carried out. However, other means will also be required, for example creating a functional support network for companies that want to improve their safety record, and increasing the significance of risk assessments in inspections. Read more...

Chapter 11. The hazards portfolio as a tool in the risk management process

The Hazards Portfolio was devised by the Swiss Accident Insurance Fund (Suva) as a toolkit for risk management in the field of occupational health and safety. It enables hazards and their potential impact to be seen at a glance. This information helps managers make and prioritise the necessary decisions quickly and efficiently. The Hazards Portfolio is managed by the company’s health and safety officer with the collaboration and consultation of the line managers and the workforce. The portfolio is intended to meet the various health and safety needs of all employees within the company. Read more...

Chapter 12. Manual handling of hospital patients. An italian risk assessment method

To make a quantitative assessment of the level of risk faced by hospital staff responsible for manual handling of patients, the Ergonomics of Posture and Movement (EPM) Research Unit of the Centre for Occupational Medicine at ICP hospital in Milan has developed the MAPO index (Movement and Assistance of Hospital Patients). The MAPO index is a comprehensive index including in its formula all the factors that mostly contribute to determine the risks from patient manual handling, and thus it can direct the relevant prevention actions. Read more...

Chapter 13. Proposed assessment method for companies handling below-the-threshold quantities of hazardous substances

In some cases a source of hazard with below-the-threshold quantities of hazardous substances located, for example, in a densely populated area, might pose an even larger threat than a larger source with above-the-threshold quantity that is not situated in a residential area. There is a need to focus attention on the importance of risk assessment at below-the-threshold sources. The key conditions for prevention of accidents include risk perception and proposals for a viable and appropriate risk assessment procedure for such sources. It is recommended that the notion of below-the-threshold source be introduced in the legislation of the Slovak Republic. A comprehensive resolution of the issue of major industrial accident risk assessment requires an integrated approach based on an understanding of technical, natural, and social science aspects. Read more...

Chapter 14. Stress - Psychology - Health: the START process for assessing the risk posed by work-related stress

The ‘Start’ process is an instrument for classifying and assessing psychological stress in the workplace. The ‘Start process’ falls in the area of preventive health measures. The process enables workplace practitioners to evaluate psychological stress and, by deriving corresponding measures, to reduce or even do away with sources of stress. A reduction of the stress risk in the workplace not only improves the health of employees; it also enables their potential to be better utilised and work processes to be carried out more effectively. This is more likely to be achieved if employees participate in the evaluation of the stress situation and if the evaluation is carried out – as envisaged by the ‘Start process’ – on the basis of information given by the employees. Read more...

Chapter 15. Napo in risky business

A new Napo film was released in spring 2008 to support the Healthy Workplaces campaign and its focus on risk assessment. The objective of the latest Napo production was not simply to repeat what is already covered in existing films, most of which are technically excellent and produced to high standards, but to provide a new entrée to the topic. It was an opportunity to ‘think outside of the box’ and to be imaginative – always easier said than done – and to capitalise on humour and the Napo way of doing things! The film looks at hazards and risk, and the financial benefits of effective risk assessment. It demonstrates a basic risk assessment, how to eliminate risk and take action to prevent or reduce risks by taking responsibility, and asks the question: ‘Who is at risk?’ Read more...