2023-12-27 13:06:54
A study carried out in 33 countries in Europe, with more than 45 thousand companies, revealed that 25% of them do not carry out periodic assessments of the risks of accidents at work, believing that these are already well known. The European Survey on New and Emerging Risks in Business (ESENER) is conducted by the European Agency for Safety and Health at Work and published every five years – the latest edition being in 2019.
Although two-thirds of companies report that they carry out risk assessments regularly, the number of companies that do not do so caused concern among the study organizers. Small and micro-enterprises face serious challenges in managing safety and health at work. While most organizations perform risk assessments regularly, smaller establishments are unlikely to do so, the agency says (page 8).
In Brazil, the problem may be even more serious, as the country already has one of the highest rates of work accidents in the world, with 612 thousand occurrences in 2022, or around 70 per hour, according to the Occupational Safety and Health Observatory – and second only to China, India and Indonesia.
According to AHM Solution, a specialist in productivity and safety in logistics operations, regular risk assessment and the adoption of “active safety” equipment can reduce cases of injuries and absences due to work accidents by up to 80%.
AHM Solution adopts a methodology called Site Assessment, which promotes a complete diagnosis of the risks of workplace accidents in company plants – whether factories, yards or warehouses. “This process generates objectives and actions that encourage companies to better protect the integrity of employees and third parties who work in their operations”, explains Afonso Moreira, CEO of AHM Solution.
One of the possible results of periodic risk assessment is the adoption of so-called “active safety” devices, which differ from traditional personal protective equipment (PPE) and warning signs. “In a plant that only provides these passive safety items, accident prevention depends exclusively on the attention of employees”, explains Moreira. “However, in a factory with high noise or differences in light, accidents such as being run over due to lack of visibility for pedestrians and machine operators can occur”, he adds.
Among the “active safety” equipment that reduces accidents in operations where vehicles and people circulate, Moreira mentions presence sensors and cameras embedded in forklifts. “Some smart devices even record near-accidents on video, which helps companies avoid new dangerous situations”, concludes the executive.
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