Why?
According to legal requirements, the employer is obliged to assess the risks to the safety and health of employees and to take appropriate measures to reduce or avoid them. Appropriate methods for carrying out risk assessments are described in the literature. However, the fundamental question arises as to how a company deals with this requirement, i.e., who – when – how and why – carries out risk assessments, which methods are used and whether the risk assessments carried out are relevant to operational activities. It should also be checked whether the process introduced for occupational safety is compatible with other processes in the company, e.g., with environmental protection, corporate reputation, controlling, purchasing and compliance. The question also arises as to whether each individual employee is capable of assessing the associated hazards and taking appropriate measures, either on their own or in a team before carrying out their task.
The meaning of the four states
 | dependent – A risk management process for conducting risk assessments has been introduced; Risk assessments are complicated, unwieldy and only serve to prove compliance with legal requirements; they have no operational significance |
 | independent – The risk management process covers all aspects of HSE, is generally understandable and easy to handle. Risk assessments are carried out by the supervisors with their teams. Top management regularly carries out an assessment of the significant risks based on the process |
 | interdependent – The risk management process is generally understandable in the company and employees carry out risk assessments in their environment independently and without specifications |
 | reactive – There is no risk management process in place |
How?
To initiate a discussion on this subject area the following key questions might be helpful for support:
- Who carries out risk assessments in the company?
- Is there a process for conducting risk assessments?
- Does the company track the implementation of risk reduction measures?
- Has a uniform risk matrix been introduced in the company to assess all types of hazards (potential hazards, subcontractors, accidents and incidents, compliance, corporate risks)?
- Is the risk matrix self-explanatory and easy to use?
- Is the assessment of risks known in all areas of the company and at management levels?
- Has the company determined who will be informed of a corresponding risk classification (e.g. severity levels A-low, B-medium, C-high, D-major, E-massive) and who will be responsible for implementing appropriate risk reduction measures is?
- Is management involved in assessing risks according to their area of responsibility?
- Is there a process in the company and are the employees instructed that before an activity is carried out, the associated hazards are reassessed and, if necessary, additional measures are taken, or the execution is stopped?
The four stages of Safety Culture
20 dimensions that significantly influencing the companies’ safety culture
Carrying out a Safety Culture State Review Survey
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