Employer beware: is your work environment safe enough?
Safety expert Luuk Schoo: 'Prevention is the key'
On World Day for Occupational Safety and Health, expert Luuk Schoo of Omwender gives tips to make your workplace safer.
How safe is your workplace? That's the question of the day, as April 28 is World Day for Safety and Health at Work. It is a United Nations initiative to draw worldwide attention to safety and health at work.
From hazardous substances to stress
There is still much to be gained in the Netherlands as well, says safety expert Luuk Schoo of Omwender. Schoo advises entrepreneurs on everything to do with working safely. He does that together with his team of experts.
"Everyone has their own specialty: from psychosocial workload and technical safety to ergonomics," he says. "We also have experts on hazardous substances, for example. They measure and assess whether employees are handling harmful substances and radiation safely, for example."
Differences by business unit
When Schoo assesses technical safety, he looks at everything directly related to physical safety. This includes, for example, safe use of machinery. In addition, he knows all about what he calls "the soft side of safety. "As an Occupational Health & Safety expert, I also deal with psychosocial workload. Think of undesirable behavior at work or high work pressure."
It varies by type of business and even by part of your organization what things to pay attention to, he explains. "If your office workers sit behind a monitor a lot, it makes sense to focus on ergonomics and work stress. For employees in the production process, you pay more attention to physical strain, hazardous materials and machine safety."
Risk inventory and plan of action
Under the Occupational Health and Safety Act, Dutch employers are required to draw up an occupational health and safety policy by which they strive to achieve optimal working conditions. The basis is a risk inventory and evaluation (RI&E). In that document you map out all policy and labor risks in your organization. Schoo: "So don't just think about hazards such as large machines and hazardous substances, but also work-related stress and discrimination."
After that risk assessment, you get to work on a plan of action. What are the dangers for your employees? How can you limit those risks and prevent problems? If you have conducted an RI&E and have a plan of action, you must submit these documents to a certified Occupational Health Service or occupational health and safety expert. For example, to Schoo and his team at Omwender. They review the RI&E and the plan of approach and give advice. They also check whether the occupational health and safety policy meets the requirements.
Responsibility with the right people
"In safe and healthy work, prevention is key," he says. "We make sure an employer doesn't overlook anything. Consider, for example, a workplace where people work with hazardous materials in an environment with forklifts. The focus then is often primarily on the substances they work with, while diesel emissions from the trucks are also unhealthy."
It is also important to give the right people in your company decision-making authority, says the safety expert. So take a good look at who is responsible for what and can actually exert influence. Schoo: "Make managers aware of their role and give them responsibility to intervene in unsafe situations."
Task of the employer
As an employer, your job is to create the right conditions for a safe and healthy work environment and communicate this message to employees, Schoo emphasizes. "So make the right people responsible and give them a clear task. The prevention officer can play an important role in this process. Also, give your employees the tools they need and create the right conditions to work safely."
Here it is essential to make your team aware of your ambitions. Schoo: "Talk regularly about the importance of working healthily and safely. Be very clear: production is important, but never at the expense of your health."
