A workplace risk assessment is not merely a document for avoiding regulatory fines: handled properly, it is an effective tool that protects employees' health, makes work processes safer and, according to research, also boosts productivity. Without one, beyond the fine itself, the full cost of accident care, 100% of sick pay and civil damages claims can all land on the business.
Many of our colleagues in the occupational safety consulting world often promote their services - and the subject of this article, the workplace risk assessment - as a document whose sole purpose is to avoid regulatory fines. But that is far from the whole story. Of course, when they cite avoiding fines they are not far from the truth, since the labour safety inspectorate can impose serious fines for a missed training session or a missing risk assessment - yet in this article I would like to approach the topic from the perspective of employee safety.
What can the lack of a risk assessment cost?
I know that business owners often see the cost of occupational safety services as just another expense, in exchange for which they merely dodge a possible fine - but there is more at stake. Just consider the extra burden an occupational accident can bring if the business did not have a valid risk assessment and its employees did not receive safety training delivered by a qualified occupational safety professional:
- beyond the fine imposed, the social security administration can pass the full cost of accident care on to the company;
- it can demand reimbursement of 100% of the sick pay;
- not to mention civil damages lawsuits brought by the employee, and the far from negligible loss of reputation!
The purpose of the Occupational Safety Act is not to fine
As an occupational safety professional, I believe that the purpose of the Occupational Safety Act, written in 1993, is not to give the state yet another pretext to fine businesses - quite the opposite! It helps them protect their most valuable asset: their employees. Over the past decades, multiple studies have shown that healthy and ergonomic working conditions not only protect employees' health but also help increase productivity.
Act XCIII of 1993
How does the risk assessment fit into the company's operations?
The workplace risk assessment offers an excellent opportunity to review the work environment. It fits organically into the company's other internal policies, since it must be consistent not only with the occupational safety documentation (safety rules, the system for providing personal protective equipment, the schedule of occupational health examinations) but also with the employment records and job descriptions.
Based on the job descriptions, the safety professional becomes familiar with the tasks performed by the employees; with this knowledge, the work processes and the accident and health hazards associated with them can be described. On this basis, the professional determines what collective or personal protective equipment, safety devices or work-organisation measures need to be ordered to eliminate or reduce the hazards to health.
Key pointIt is not enough to provide protective equipment and devices: their use must be taught, practised and checked for proper application! Employees must receive both theoretical and practical training, as required by the Occupational Safety Act.
The role of the annual review
The annual review of the risk assessment enables continuous oversight of workplace safety and allows the effectiveness of previously implemented changes to be tracked.
Risk analysis does not, of course, replace ongoing professional safety activity; rather, it can be viewed as a kind of independent safety audit. It highlights any shortcomings and naturally includes an action plan for eliminating them. Handled properly, the risk assessment is not a pointless administrative burden but an effective tool for making work processes safer.
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