An entrepreneur is exposed to risks; you know this better than anyone. The product in which you have invested needs to succeed. What if your customers do not pay, or if there is a burglary at your premises? These are all risks. This is all part of being an entrepreneur. As long as all is well, you and your employees will be able to earn a decent living.
What if there is an accident with one of the machines? What if an employee is exposed to hazardous substances? What if somebody is unable to work because the work is too demanding, or too much? This will cause production to halt, or you will have to cope with one less person. Then there are still the costs for repairs and healthcare. Not to mention the danger to your reputation. These are substantial risks.
You have probably heard of a Risk Assessment, or RA, before. An RA consists of two parts: a LIST with all the risks to your company and a PLAN to deal with them. These two components allow you to limit the risks to your employees and your company, and therefore also the financial risk.
Complicated? Not really. It just takes a bit of time. However, the RA is important. So important that the government has made it compulsory for almost all entrepreneurs with employees.
Every company must conduct an RA and draw up a Plan of Action. A company is responsible for the health and safety of its employees. That is logical. As an employer, you want to live up to this responsibility. To do so, you need to know what the health and safety risks are for your company. These risks can be determined using this RA. They can be determined in such a way that you know where to improve the working conditions and what risks to eliminate.
Conduct an RA regularly. Especially if there are any changes in your company. For example, when you buy a new machine, after reconstruction or after moving. A rule of thumb is once every four to five years. You do not have to start the RA from scratch every time.
You can conduct the RA yourself. You can also ask your employees to complete some of the questions. This is a good opportunity to ask them whether they have seen points for improvement, which is motivational! Also involve the employee representative body.
These four steps are the best way of reducing the risks:
All the hazards on one list: draw up a list of all the hazards in your company. You can draw this list up yourself. (Or you can ask an expert to conduct your RA.)
Your RA must answer the following six questions:
The result is a summary of the bottlenecks in your company. For each bottleneck you will evaluate the magnitude of the hazards: you define the risks.
You indicate how you will solve the bottlenecks. Compare all the risks on the list and place them in the correct order. Which risks are the most threatening? Are there situations in your company that are not legally permissible? Which risks could cause damage to your employees, equipment or the production process? Which risks would your employees like you to tackle? Which modifications are technically feasible and – also important – how much can you invest?
Next step: compare who does what and when? You now have a list of ‘Things to Do’. The third step is: set time periods for tackling the risks in your company. Who will start working on which risk? And when will you be satisfied? What will it provide? In short, a plan of action. This allows you to resolve the risks one at a time, preferably at the source. Perhaps you can solve several problems at once.
Done? Then you are on your way! That sounds odd. Once you are done that means you are finished, right? This does not apply to the RA. You will implement the Plan. You will discuss the progress with your employees every year. If you make changes in the company, you must change the RA too. New machines, new working method, reorganisation? Changes in your company mean a modified RA. So, if you have finished your (first) RA, you have only just started. You have started to improve the health and safety standards in your company. And improvements are never finished!