Drawing up a risk assessment and evaluation (RI&E), a step-by-step plan

You are responsible for drawing up, implementing and updating an RI&E.This is a mandatory listing of health and safety risks for your employees. If you have no RI&E, the Netherlands Labour Authority (Nederlandse Arbeidsinspectie, NLA) can fine you.

You can draw up an RI&E yourself, or you can use one of the Online interactive Risk Assesment tools provided by the European Agency for Safety and Health at Work (OSHA) on their website. You can also use a tool for RI&E (in Dutch) from Steunpunt RI&E or another sector organisation. The RI&E must be drafted together with or by a health and safety officer. This person deals with health and safety in your business every day.

Investigate whether there are risks in your business. List the hazards and risks in the workplace. Listing the risks will give you a quick insight into the situation in your business. And you can see where measures are needed to address the risks.

Well-known risks are working with hazardous substances, lifting heavy items or stress due to irregular working hours. Also consider physical risks. Such as vibrations that can cause damage to the ears, and too much time behind a computer screen. Or safety risks, for example if heat or radiation is released during work. You may also face risks you cannot see. Like work-related stress or discrimination. It is good to involve your employees in this investigation.

Do you know the risks? Then you can assess them. Think about how many employees are at risk. What are the consequences? And how often does the risk occur? You make a list of the risks and compare them. Then you put them in the right order, from most important risk to least important risk. This forms the basis of your action plan.

An action plan is a mandatory part of the RI&E. In your action plan, identify what measures you will take to manage the risks. State what measures you will take to manage the risks. Who does what, and when? Find more information on the action plan (in Dutch) here.

In most cases, you must let a certified occupational health and safety service or occupational health officer assess your RI&E and action plan. This way you will know whether you have taken the right measures. And whether your employees are properly protected against the risks. Whether you need to have an assessment carried out depends on the size of your company. Check if you are required to have your RI&E assessed (in Dutch). The costs for testing an RI&E are not fixed. So, ask for a price quotation from the occupational health and safety service.

It is a good idea to involve your employees in drawing up the RI&E. What are the risks they see? Which measures do they consider most important? This way, your employees are involved in the development of occupational safety.

Do you have a works council (ondernemingsraad, OR) or staff representation (personeelsvertegenwoordiging, PVT)? Then your employees have the right to express their opinion about the RI&E and the action plan. This is called the right of consent. It allows them to contribute to improvements or additions. Make sure your staff knows that there is an RI&E.

You should regularly review your RI&E and adjust it if necessary. Are you changing work processes or workplaces? If so, this sometimes affects the RI&E and the action plan. Working conditions may also change. And sometimes there are new insights. For example, about the health effects of a particular chemical, working with a new machine, or moving to new premises. You must then adjust the RI&E.