Professional risk: definition, factors, levels, types, classification of occupational risks, methods for assessing occupational risk

In the 20th century, the study of various aspects of risk became very relevant. Mankind by this time has achieved great success in the process of stabilization of life. The well-being of people as a whole has risen sharply; In most European countries, life expectancy has increased. However, the risks for mankind not only decreased, but, on the contrary, their frequency increased, the severity of the consequences increased, and the nature of their occurrence became much more complicated.

Prerequisites

One of the risk factors is the globalization of the economic system. It accelerates the movement of the "impulse" of trouble from one point of the planet to another. At the same time, globalization of the economy affects political, social, financial systems, generating the corresponding risks. As a result, the vulnerability of almost the entire international community has increased dramatically. Currently, political and military cataclysms, warming, the spread of terrorism, lack of drinking water are being actively discussed. The concept of "risk" is firmly established in modern vocabulary.

The situation in the world

The concept of "risk" is interpreted differently by different researchers. According to E. Giddens, he acts as an integral attribute of "high modernity." This element is distinguished by the fundamental uncontrollability of the chain of processes and situations, which do not threaten individuals and small communities, but for the whole of mankind as a whole. W. Beck believes that risk is a comprehensive characteristic of the society at a particular stage of its development, which, having passed through the industrial and post-industrial stage of development, becomes a "risk society". Its essence lies in the fact that the production logic of the accumulation and distribution of wealth is transformed into the idea of a mass spread of a threat of different types, generated by scientific and technical systems. Growing in scope and scale of risks cause the depreciation of wealth created by society. As a result, global instability arises, and the principle of market economy is destroyed.

Security

Interest in the nature of the emergence of various risks has become the subject of activity of specialists of various fields of knowledge. Currently, there are types of threats that scientists pay special attention to. To types of risk, for example, carry modernization, political, technogenic, civilizational. Threats in this case are investigated relative to different objects and subjects who are in certain conditions. Security is the key concept that characterizes the level of security against risk. This category has a purposeful value for threat management. Security assumes the maximum possible level of protection of social structures from man-made and political influences. This approach is enshrined in Federal Law No. 2446-1 of 1992. In it, security is viewed as a state of protection of the interests of the individual, society and the state, which are of vital importance to actors and acting as a set of needs, the satisfaction of which provides opportunities for progress. This definition illustrates the category from two positions:

1. Reflection of real threats to health and life, the conditions of normal working activity of individuals, their communities and society as a whole. This approach differs from official attitudes that existed relatively recently in the minds of people who perceived security as a complete absence of any risks.
2. Achieving a certain level of security, which can only get close to one hundred percent. It depends on many circumstances, as well as the availability of economic resources in society.

Professional risk: definition

This threat is man-made. The concept of "occupational risk" is particularly studied in the framework of the formation of compulsory social insurance mechanisms against accidents in the production process and occupational diseases, the creation of mandatory pension systems. Professional risk is the probability of loss (damage) to health or death associated with the performance of duties under an employment contract and in other cases established by law.

Key Categories

The regulatory documentation establishes several concepts related to occupational risk. In particular, in the legal provisions there is a category such as the degree of injuries, incidence and costs of insurance coverage, formed by the types of activity of policyholders. All these elements form a risk class in the professional sphere. A systematic analysis is carried out to identify potential hazards and quantify the threats. The professional risk assessment is a verification procedure based on the results of a threat analysis. It is necessary to determine whether the permissible hazard limit is exceeded. Risk management is an organized activity aimed at bringing the degree of danger within the optimal values. This process involves the analysis and verification of threats, the development and implementation of protective measures, as well as a description of their effectiveness. Admissible is called risk, which does not pose a serious threat with the available public values.

Existing problems

Formation of prerequisites for the formation and effective work of insurance institutions is accompanied with the solution of a number of urgent problems. First of all, it is necessary to develop a system of analysis that is fundamentally new for the country. Secondly, it is necessary to create a complex of interrelated medical-social, organizational, legal and financial mechanisms that regulate the sphere of industrial safety. If we consider the first task, then the volume of issues requiring solutions is determined by the complex nature of the emergence of threats, their significant diversity, long and difficult to predict consequences. The classification of occupational risks includes more than 150 different groups. Inside it there are approximately 1 thousand types of threats, representing a real danger for 2 thousand different specialties. Meanwhile, the list is considered incomplete. The types of occupational risks present in it concern only certain aspects of occupational health and safety.

Specificity of occurrence

The wide spread of risks in the professional sphere is caused by the high degree of development of industrial activity. In the production of technologies and technology, biological and chemical substances, energy and penetrating radiation are actively used. All these are factors of occupational risk. The development of different industrial areas leads to the fact that virtually all spheres of human life, non-productive, including, are permeated with various threats. Many experts say that it is impossible to completely eliminate the possibility of dangerous situations in the labor process in the field of material production. Therefore, in the modern world, a comprehensive assessment of occupational risk is becoming increasingly important.

Principles of analysis

In the modern management system of the PA, certain criteria for assessing occupational risks have been developed . The analysis should be:

1. Not spontaneous, but a conscious process, the result of purposeful activity. In it, the employee and the employer should be interested.
2. Quantitative. This is due to the fact that the levels of professional risks are directly related to the amount of wages. Under certain conditions of production, an allowance is provided for the employee. At the same time, activities aimed at reducing occupational risks should also have a quantitative expression, since it is also related to costs.
3. Objective, based on principles, approaches, methods, etc., recognized by both the employer and the employee. This means that the analysis should be understandable for all participants in the employment relationship.

From the foregoing, it follows that methods for assessing occupational risk should:

1. Provide data in quantitative terms. It is allowed to use different scales: rank, interval, etc.
2. Be simple and intuitive. Methods for assessing professional risk should ensure that representatives of different parts of the administrative system can use the command, including foremen, site managers, foremen, and masters.
3. Assume the reproducibility of the results obtained with a given accuracy. For example, in the event of a labor dispute, confirmation of compliance, analysis of the effectiveness of preventive measures,

Matrix "probability - damage"

The risk of a professional can be established in quantitative terms without a direct calculation of the prognosis of events. For this, the "probability-damage" matrix is used. The essence of this approach is that the specialist for each case sets the rank of the possibility of its occurrence: low, medium, high. In accordance with this, potential damage is identified: large, medium, small. This method is considered very common in developed countries due to its simplicity. However, this approach is highly subjective. By establishing the risk, the professional expert can be based both on his own knowledge and experience, and on personal feelings. This means that after a while it can produce a completely different result under the same initial conditions.

Verbal functions

To exclude subjectivity, establishing a probability with which a risk may arise, the professional expert compiles a description of a variety of situations. The essence of the method is that for each quantitative value of the possibility of an event, the characteristic of a particular case corresponds. In describing each probability, the expert follows a number of rules:

1. Any situation that does not correspond to this characteristic refers to another.
2. No virtual or real case can match 2 or more descriptions at a time.
3. The wording of the specific probability of occurrence of a situation must be associated with a certain protective measure, which must be provided for the complete elimination of this circumstance.
4. When implementing a protection measure that relates to a description element, the event goes to the next, elevated level, at which the risk decreases.

Degree of fulfillment of safety requirements

The risk of a professional can be analyzed on the basis of the assumption that all or most of the hazards provided for in regulatory enactments (local, state, industry) for fire safety, industrial and fire safety are taken into account. It is assumed that compliance with the established requirements in full ensures the absence of threats in the workplace. The last statement, however, is erroneous. This is due to the fact that the risk associated with an activity or an object can not be completely eliminated without stopping the relevant activity or removing the source. Nevertheless, at the initial stages of implementing measures to improve labor conditions, this statement can be considered admissible.

The Elmery System

It is considered one of the indirect methods for assessing occupational risk. The Elmeri system assumes a separation according to the safety index. It means a percentage that ranges from 0 to 100. For example, an indicator of 60% means that of a hundred items 60 meets the requirements. As a shortcoming of this system, experts call the equivalence of factors affecting the safety of activities. For example, one nonconformity score is assigned in the absence of fences for high-altitude work, and if there is insufficient width of passages between tables in the accounting department. This, to some extent, distorts the real picture of the dangers that may arise in the enterprise, which, in turn, does not allow for the proper planning of the HSE activities, depending on the significance of the threats and the priority of measures. Nevertheless, using the Elmeri technique makes it possible to develop a security system not aimlessly, but specifically to eliminate the detected deviation.

OVR Index

A more adequate risk assessment is carried out using the improved Elmery method. Similar to the previous system, the indicator is expressed in the form "corresponds - does not match". However, in this case, the division is carried out by 3 ranks. Thus, the items with the index "O" contain mandatory requirements for security. If they are not observed, the highest level of professional risk arises - the probability of injury or disease. Such requirements, for example, include the serviceability of tools, the use of PPE, the presence of locks, protective screens, etc. In the items with the index "B" there are important instructions, if non-observance of which there are no injuries or diseases, but there is an insufficient degree of organization of work On OT or violations can lead to an aggravation of the consequences of what happened. Such requirements, for example, include the state of the passes, the completeness of the first-aid kits, etc. The items with the index "P" contain recommendations related to the organization of workplaces and the labor process. In and of themselves, they are not considered mandatory, but they point to the attention of workers and managers to OT issues, testify to the production culture and discipline. Execution of each of the items presented is estimated at 3, 2 and 1 point. As a result, it is possible to determine as accurately as possible the actual degree of danger and indicate the activities to be carried out in the first place. With a regular measurement of the OVR index, changes in labor safety can be traced. The OVR index is used as a concrete and objective form of feedback from actions taken to reduce risks and improve working conditions.

Social insurance

In this area, occupational risk is considered as the likelihood of occurrence for a particular group of workers of accidents accompanied by a loss of wages and requiring costs for compensation of costs for treatment and subsequent rehabilitation. As a key characteristic of the institution of compulsory social insurance is the provision that the subject of its activities includes legal and economic relations relating to the negative social consequences of professional activity. In this regard, the analysis and establishment of the degree of danger uses approaches that include cost categories, through which the amounts of necessary compensation payments are calculated.