No RI&E or plan of action yet? Get started!

Early this year, research by TNO again showed that many companies do not comply with the rules of the Occupational Health and Safety Act. Although the Inspectorate SZW (which checks companies) noted a slight increase in the number of companies complying with the rules, only a third of the companies comply with all the rules. It is particularly striking that only 30% of companies have a Risk Inventory and Evaluation (better known as the 'RI&E').

The secretary of state took notice and allowed the Inspectorate SZW to issue higher fines.

RI&E

Every company is required to have an RI&E. This forms an important basis for the health and safety policy within the company. An RI&E consists of three parts:

• The inventory of risks;
• The determination of risk severity: the assessment, and
• A plan of action, with a schedule of improvement measures to be taken.

The RI&E must identify all risks related to safety, health and psychosocial workload. In the case of production or construction companies, for example, you can think about the risks associated with working with hazardous machinery or materials, but also noise pollution, working night shifts, and so on. The RI&E must also reflect the quality of the occupational health and safety policy, such as policies around undesirable behavior. In addition, the following requirements apply:

• The RI&E must take into account the state of science or professional insights in the field of working conditions. The latest insights must be used to assess whether a risk has been sufficiently controlled;
• The RI&E must be in writing, and
• If certain risks are identified, it may mean that a so-called further inventory must be carried out for them.

An RI&E must be kept up to date, although there is no legal deadline for most companies. Usually the RI&E is re-run every four to five years and adjusted if necessary.

Higher fines

In order to encourage companies to comply (as yet) with a (proper) RI&E, the government has decided to amend the policy rule 'imposition of fines under working conditions legislation'. One consequence of this change is that the Inspectorate SZW can impose fines more quickly. The Inspectorate no longer needs to issue a warning first, but may proceed directly to issue a fine. In addition, higher fines apply. Thus, the amendment mainly leads to a tightening of the sanctions policy.

For example, if the company does not have an RI&E, this immediately leads to a fine of (depending on the size of the company) €4,500.00 instead of €3,000.00. If a plan of action is missing, describing what measures will be taken and within what time frame, then a fine of €750.00 no longer applies, but a fine of €3,000.00.

So if your company does not yet have an RI&E and/or action plan, it is important to start working on it as soon as possible. This way you can avoid fines. If you have any questions about this or if we can help, we are of course at your service.