Risk Assessment & Evaluation (RI&E)
Do you own a business in the Netherlands, and do you employ staff (including temporary workers, interns, and flex workers)? You must make sure your employees can work safely and healthily. You must conduct a Risk Assessment & Evaluation (risico-inventarisatie & evaluatie, RI&E, in Dutch). An RI&E describes any risks to the health and safety of your employees. The Netherlands Labour Authority (NLA) checks if you have an RI&E.
What is an RI&E?
The RI&E is an assessment of the risks your employees may be faced with during work. When carrying out an RI&E, you must check and describe:
- which risks you and your employees encounter, and what measures you have already taken to reduce them
- which risks are the most severe or important
- what measures you are planning to take, and when (plan of action, Plan van Aanpak, PvA)
- how your employees can contact a health and safety officer, or an occupational health and safety expert
A measure you could write down in your plan of action, is to use the Hand arm risk-assessment method (HARM). This helps prevent your employees from getting arm, neck or shoulder problems, when they work with their hands or arms all day. A measure against improper conduct, such as for instance harassment, might be to appoint a trusted person.
You must implement and regularly evaluate the measures of the plan of action. The RI&E must always be up to date. If you change something in your business, you must also update your RI&E.
You must make sure that the RI&E is accessible for and can be examined by your employees. Do you hire temporary employees? Then you must send a copy of your RI&E to the agency you hire the employees from.
Find out more about how to draw up an RI&E. The Dutch support centre for risk inventory (RI&E) offers a comprehensive step-by-step guide for business owners.
Have your RI&E checked
A health and safety officer must help you in drawing up and implementing the RI&E and the plan of action. In most cases, a certified occupational health and safety service or occupational health and safety expert must assess your RI&E (in Dutch). Sometimes you do not need to have the RI&E checked. This depends on the size of your business and on the type of RI&E tool you use. You can find RI&E tools developed by your sector organisation on the RI&E website (in Dutch).
You have more than 25 employees
If you have more than 25 employees, a certified occupational health and safety service or health and safety expert must always assess the RI&E.
You have 25 employees or less
You do not need to have the RI&E assessed if you use a recognised RI&E-tool developed by your sector organisation. If you do not use a recognised RI&E tool, a certified occupational health and safety service or health and safety expert must assess the RI&E.
If the total amount of hours worked by your employees including interns (combined) is no more than 40 hours a week, you may use a recognised RI&E tool or the Checklist Health Risks (Checklist Gezondheidsrisico's, in Dutch). You do not need to have this assessed.
You work only with volunteers
Do you work solely with volunteers? You do not need to conduct an RI&E or have it assessed, unless your business works with hazardous substances or biological agents.
Fine for not having an RI&E
The Netherlands Labour Authority will check if you have an RI&E and a plan of action (PvA). They check, for example, if you have covered all risks and measures in your plans. Is your RI&E or plan of action incomplete or is it not approved by the Netherlands Labour Authority? They may give you a warning, demand that you improve it, or even fine you. Do you not have an RI&E or plan of action? You may be fined at once.