Prevention of industrial risks
Fundamentals of occupational risk prevention
Overview:
Fundamentals of occupational risk prevention
General principles, values and good practices
Good practices
Methods and know-how
Towards a global approach to risks?
The 9 general principles of prevention
Tags: Fundamentals in prevention; occupational risks; good prevention practices; know-how in prevention; global approach to risks; general principles of prevention:
To implement an occupational risk prevention approach, it is essential to know a few fundamentals. These are above all general principles of prevention, essential values (based in particular on respect for people and social dialogue) and good practices. It is also a matter of relying on methods or tools enabling prevention to be implemented, in particular during risk assessment.
The prevention of occupational risks is all the measures to be implemented to preserve the health and safety of employees, improve working conditions and promote well-being at work. This is a regulatory obligation imposed on the employer and the general principles of which are enshrined in the Labor Code.
It is part of a logic of corporate social responsibility , aimed at reducing the risk of work accidents and occupational diseases and at limiting their human, social and economic consequences.
In order to assume this responsibility and meet the obligation of result which is imposed on it, the employer must be able to adapt the prevention approach to the nature of the activity and the organization specific to the company, but also to anticipate. its evolutions.
Knowing the fundamentals of prevention, relying on values and drawing inspiration from good practices, makes it possible to progress and to integrate a continuous improvement process into the prevention of occupational risks in the life of the company (global policy , organization, production, purchasing, environment, quality…).
Introduction to prevention facing Industrial Risks Assessment
The prevention of occupational risks covers all the measures to be implemented to preserve the health and safety of employees, improve working conditions and promote well-being at work.
A professional risk prevention approach is built by involving all the players concerned and taking into account the specificities of the company (size, mobilizable resources, organization, subcontracting, co-contracting, interim, subsidiary, multiple geographical location, presence external third parties such as the public or customers ...) ..
To avoid risks is to eliminate the danger or the exposure to the danger.
Evaluating the risks means appreciating the exposure to danger and the importance of the risk in order to prioritize the preventive actions to be carried out.
Combating risks at source means integrating prevention as early as possible, particularly from the design of workplaces, equipment or operating methods.
Adapt work to humans, taking into account inter-individual differences, with the aim of reducing the effects of work on health.
Taking account of technical developments means adapting prevention to technical and organizational developments.
Replacing what is dangerous by what is less is to avoid the use of dangerous processes or products when the same result can be obtained with a method presenting less dangers.
Planning prevention by integrating technique, organization and working conditions, social relations and the environment.
Give priority to collective protection measures and only use personal protective equipment in addition to collective protection if it turns out to be insufficient.
Giving the appropriate instructions to employees means training and informing employees so that they know the risks and preventive measures.
General principles, values and good practices in Industrial Risks Assessment
The prevention of occupational risks is a major issue for the company. It requires first and foremost a commitment and a strong political will within the establishment. Everyone at their own level in the company (employer, staff representative, prevention officer or employee) is directly concerned. The process is guided by:
1. the 9 general principles of prevention of the Labor Code which introduce the same prevention approach applicable to all risks and make it possible to guide action (such as, for example, the elimination of risks at source, collective protection or the adaptation of human work),
2. essential values (respect for people, transparency in the implementation of the prevention approach and social dialogue),
3. good prevention practices.
Good practices in Industrial Risks Assessment
Good practices for preventing occupational risks can be summed up in 8 major points. These are actions to be implemented as soon as a prevention process is launched in a company.
8 good practices to adopt to prevent occupational risks
1. Integrate the management of health and safety at work in all the functions of the company (purchasing, study, production, etc.)
2. Harmonize the health and safety policy with other company policies (human resources, quality, environment, production, financial management, etc.)
3. Develop the autonomy of the company in terms of prevention
4. Promote a multidisciplinary approach (technical, human and organizational)
5. Make the a priori identification and assessment of risks a major element of occupational health and safety policy
6. Integrate prevention into the design of premises, equipment, workstations and working methods
7. Analyze work accidents and occupational diseases by going back to the most upstream causes
8. Improve the risk management policy and develop the basic values of the company
Methods and know-how in Industrial Risks Assessment
In implementing an occupational risk prevention approach, it is necessary to rely on methods or know-how, in particular for:
· risk assessment : a legal obligation imposed on the employer, this is a crucial step in the prevention process which makes it possible to define the most appropriate preventive actions, covering the technical, human and organizational dimensions of the activity of the company
· the implementation of an occupational risk prevention approach aimed at continuously improving the company's performance in terms of health and safety at work.
Towards a global approach to risks?
Schematically, the usual functioning of a company generates risks likely to have an impact on the health of employees ( occupational risks ), on production equipment or on the environment outside the company ( environmental risks ). All of these risks are grouped together under the term industrial risks .
Confronted with regulatory obligations to prevent occupational risks and protect the environment, the company must develop pragmatic and appropriate solutions, giving priority to risk control at the source. Coherent management of these different risk components and the implementation of effective preventive actions can be usefully based on the similarities existing both in the vocabulary, the concepts or the methods to be implemented.
The 9 general principles of prevention
The prevention approach is also based on methods and tools. Its implementation respects in particular the three essential values (respect for the employee, transparency and social dialogue) and good prevention practices
In other words, the prevention approach consists of developing a prevention culture in the company based on:
The professional risk assessment process consisting in identifying the risks to which employees are subject, with a view to implementing relevant preventive actions.
The approach to designing and using workplaces, which is a priori to prevent occupational risks and improve working conditions: an approach to be implemented, as a result, as early as possible in a project.
The approach to preventing risks associated with machines. During the design phase, it focuses on developing intrinsic prevention.
The questioning of the use of collective protections relating to the elimination or reduction of risks, the implementation of isolation measures in relation to the risk.
The action of the multidisciplinary teams of occupational health and safety services involved in the implementation and monitoring of collective risk prevention measures.
The place of personal protection, the use of which should only be considered in addition to other elimination or risk reduction measures.
Training and information, which are an integral part of company policy.
To this set is added the obligation on the employer to organize in his company the emergency aid and care to be given to injured and sick employees.