The central principle of work is the employee’s right to safe working conditions. The employer is obliged to protect the health and life of workers by organizing their activities in such a way as to ensure safe and hygienic conditions for this with the appropriate application of scientific achievements. One of the main responsibilities of the employee is to comply with the rules of safe work.
We often hear the term "professional risk." What does this mean in practice for the employer and employee? Occupational risk is the likelihood of various accidents related to the duties performed, which are indicated in the employment contract. It may be associated with the occurrence of occupational diseases, disability or loss of life.
Relevance
In order to satisfy ever-growing demands, both economically and socially, modern enterprises must update their management processes. One of them, of course, is the responsibility for health and safety at work. Providing the latter for company employees in the performance of their duties is the most important value for which the employer is responsible.
Accidents may occur at the workplace during the course of work, therefore the employer's responsibility is to assess occupational risks in the labor protection of the enterprise. This process should go smoothly, and the results themselves must be reliable.
Concept
Under professional risk is understood the probability of the occurrence of negative events that are associated with work causing losses, in particular, the occurrence of adverse consequences for the health of workers due to harmful production.
In other words, the professional risk of work is the likelihood of events that are undesirable and cause losses regarding the performance by employees of their labor functions.
An assessment of occupational risk in labor protection should be carried out when the enterprise:
- new jobs are being created;
- changes are taking place in existing vacancies;
- requirements regarding an acceptable level of factors of the working environment are changing;
- the rules regarding the application of protective measures have been changed;
- other external factors that pose a threat to the employees of this enterprise.
Research need
Assessment of occupational risk in labor protection is the basis for the employer to choose equipment, chemicals and preparations, devices for workstations. It is the basis for taking measures, choosing production methods and organizing labor in order to ensure increased health protection for employees of the company and integration with the work of the enterprise at all levels of management.
The General Rules for the Assessment of Occupational Risk recommend that it be carried out periodically, but without fail, when the safety information has lost its relevance, especially in the following cases:
- when creating new jobs;
- when making changes in the workplace (for example, technological or organizational);
- after changing the requirements related to the evaluated position;
- after amending the protective measures applied.
The employer must remember that one of his main responsibilities is to inform employees of the possible risks that may affect their health and life (this situation can be found in article 226 of the Labor Code). In addition, he is obliged to conduct training on labor protection and safety at his own expense. Failure to comply with these obligations may result in financial fines.
The essence of the assessment
Another task of the employer is the assessment of occupational risk. What does it mean? This is nothing more than a definition of what in the workplace can be harmful and negatively affect the health of subordinates. It is worth noting here that this procedure is not just the next stage of bureaucracy. This is an assessment of the real threats that may arise in the performance of duties. Therefore, the implementation of these formalities is crucial, and their non-compliance can be strictly punished by the labor inspectorate. Such an assessment takes into account two factors:
- the degree of danger that may exist at a given workplace and their impact on the health and life of employees;
- the likelihood of these risks.
Such an assessment can be carried out by the employer independently or with the help of labor protection specialists. Regardless of who performed the risk assessment, the responsibility always lies with the leaders of the enterprise.
Such an assessment is to reduce the number of accidents. When determining the level of professional risk, the type of jobs, the equipment used, and the occurrence of hazardous and harmful labor factors are taken into account. The type of working staff is also important, namely whether they are young workers, people with disabilities (the degree of disability is also taken into account here), or pregnant women. The employer must also remember that he cannot authorize any activity for an employee who does not have ongoing medical examinations.
Procedure
Assessment of occupational risk in the field of labor protection is the process of analyzing this risk and determining its acceptability. It refers to the obligations of the employer, as required by law. The procedure takes into account all factors of the working environment and ways of performing work, which can create health risks.
The main purpose of this assessment is to provide optimal conditions for protecting the health and life of workers during their employment. This can be achieved mainly by eliminating work-related hazards and, if this is not possible, by adequately reducing the risk profile.
Assessment of occupational risks in labor protection should be carried out in a systematic manner and be perceived as a continuous process that provides the basis for improving working conditions. The participation of workers in its implementation can increase their involvement in solving problems related to labor safety and contribute to the better implementation of protective actions arising from this. At the same time, the organization raises awareness of existing threats, which is important for their more effective reduction.
Assessment stages
There are three main stages of this procedure at the enterprise:
- the analysis process, which consists in collecting information for assessment, identifying threats, calculating the values ​​of the probability of occurrence and the amount of losses when they occur;
- determination of the admissibility of the risk, that is, whether its occurrence is safe;
- development of measures to protect or reduce the level of threat;
- level monitoring in order to prevent their occurrence.
Assessment Methodology
The determination of the degree of professional risk is based on a systematic review of all aspects of the company’s work in order to identify probable causes of injury or damage, work out actions to eliminate threats, and in the absence of such opportunities, develop preventive or protective measures necessary to prevent accidents.
Methods for assessing occupational risks in labor protection are presented in the following list:
- matrix method;
- indicator;
- graphic.
Main assessment method
It consists of four stages:
- The first stage is the identification and description of the threat zone for which the assessment will be carried out.
- The second is to prepare a list of identified threats.
- The third stage is risk assessment.
Three parameters are used for this:
- probability of accident (P);
- exposure time of the hazardous agent (E);
- possible consequences and their severity (S).
These parameters are used to calculate the risk indicator R according to the formula:
R = P · E · S.
The parameters obtained in the third stage are evaluated according to specially developed scales at several levels for each hazard.
Documentation
To meet management requirements, it is important to properly document the entire process. The first document from the assessment is one that describes the workplace, as well as the provision on occupational risks in labor protection. He will speed up the preparation process and the procedure.
Assessment of professional risk is one of the main elements of the safety of the employee’s labor function, and at the same time it is mainly controlled by labor inspectors. The obligation to develop a regulation on occupational risks in labor protection and to familiarize employees with it lies with the employer.
However, in practice, thanks to experience, knowledge and skills, experts in the field of health and safety are obliged to solve the problem of risk assessment. Unfortunately, the development of such documentation is not only a difficult task, but also hours of dedicated work. It often happens that, despite the efforts made, the document is chaotic, inconsistent, and the employee cannot read it.
The documentation is ready for implementation at the workplace, but it can also be a basis that adapts to its needs and specifics. The drawing up of the act must comply with applicable law.
A risk assessment should be documented. The following elements should be included in it:
- description of the assessed position;
- evaluation results;
- the likelihood of hazards;
- preventive measures to reduce this likelihood;
- date of the audit and information about the person who conducted it.
Periodic measures
The methodology for assessing occupational risks in labor protection provides for the frequency of its implementation. After determining the level of tolerance, if there is no need to carry out corrective or preventive actions, periodically carry out a similar procedure.
It should be carried out, first of all, in those positions where there are a lot of cases of injuries and diseases, and the applied preventive measures do not reduce the number of negative events. The time and frequency of the periodic risk assessment depends on the professional experience of labor protection specialists.
Management basics
The main goal of each company is to ensure its own existence in the market and its development. Thanks to such activities, profit is maximized, and the level of losses decreases. The latter may include damage resulting from injuries and illnesses in the workplace.
Occupational safety risk management is an important element of the industrial safety system. Threat assessment refers to the conditions at the workplace, and not to the employee performing his duties. It is necessary to provide the necessary information to employees about the professional risk of labor associated with their activities, and familiarize themselves with the rules of protection against them.
Management of risks
The system of occupational risk management in labor protection is a set of interrelated types of work that are included in the structure of the company's labor safety management. It includes measures to establish, evaluate and lower the level of the risk. The task of the system is to create safe working conditions for employees.
Assessment and management of occupational hazards is a mandatory procedure conducted by the management of the organization for the protection of labor, aimed at the formation and support of preventive measures to optimize threats and risks, including the prevention of accidents, injuries and illnesses. Elements of such a system are as follows:
- professional risk management policy;
- implementation of security measures;
- procedures;
- the control;
- studying the activities of the risk management system.
Occupational risk management policy should be part of the general concept of occupational safety at the enterprise. The responsibility lies entirely with the employer. When setting goals, he must take into account the list of occupational risks in the field of labor protection and the possibilities for their elimination.
Managers must create, introduce and update programs to achieve risk management objectives, and ensure the necessary working conditions and the health of employees. The goals and programs of the risk management system should be explained to employees at the appropriate levels, as well as during training, consulting, etc. The employer should review the implementation of programs and, as necessary, take constructive measures to correct them.
Conclusion
An occupational risk assessment should be tangible for employers and employees. Both parties receive relevant threat information. Evaluation is carried out systematically and is perceived as an ongoing process that provides the basis for effective improvement of working conditions. In addition, the inspection should carefully verify the documents associated with such tests. Their absence can lead to high fines that the employer will have to pay.