Oi RA Main drivers obstacles to

Oi. RA – Main drivers / obstacles to the development of Oi. RA

Main drivers (for the Agency intermediaries)

1. Oi. RA - New generation of RA tools • Main features • Easy access, easy to use, free, … • Role of Oi. RA/interactive tools: “empower”, foster the autonomy of micro and small companies when it comes to RA (self-assessment) • Advantages of Oi. RA/interactive tools: • Diffusion/dissemination facilitated through Internet • Evolutionary content (“easy-immediate” update) • Didactic/methodological dimension (RA method: from Risk Identification to documenting the RA) • Access to other sources of information/documentation (through the links) • Access to online help tools (didactic/pedagogic tools to be developed) • Possibility to monitor the development and use of such tools

1. Oi. RA - New generation of RA tools • There is a more and more common perception that such tools … • Are the future • Need to be developed by governments/ministries/public institutions and offered for free • The EU OSH strategy and most of the national ones mention (more or less explicitly) the need to develop such practical/simple tools to facilitate the RA process among micro and small companies.

2. “Oi. RA tools generator”: free, flexible, “tested” • The development of such a Web application is expensive and needs time • The conditions under which the Oi. RA tools generator is put at the disposal of our intermediaries are good/easily bearable (no major commitments in terms of resources, continuity, etc. ) • Oi. RA tool has been tested in the Netherlands (RI&E) and in many other countries

3. Maintenance / (basic) development carried out by the Agency • Oi. RA tools “hosted” and “maintained” in our servers • The Agency assumes the development of new functionalities or improve the existing ones. • Only functionalities with an added value for the Oi. RA community

4. (in some cases) Offer a new service / product to the companies • Our Oi. RA partners did not offer these kinds of tools to their members/target audience • Motivations: • Employers’ organisations: better meet the needs of their members • Ministries/Labour Inspectorate: • implement the national strategies, • facilitate RA by putting Oi. RA at the disposal of the micro and smalls companies. • Trade Unions: be more present among micro and small companies

5. Help companies to fulfil their legal obligation ESENER-2 – Major reasons for addressing health and safety (% estab. , EU-28) Base: all establishments in the EU-28.

6. Cooperation at EU level welcome and needed • Common perception / general agreement about the need to cooperate at EU level in the development of such tools • Economy of scale (especially in this period of crisis) • Added value of the Oi. RA community • Possibility to establish new contacts/collaborations

Barriers (for the Agency intermediaries)

1. Lack of awareness ESENER

Reasons why workplace risk assessments are not carried out regularly, by size (% estab. , EU-28) Base: establishments in the EU-28 that do not carry out risk assessments regularly.

Major difficulties in addressing health and safety (% establishments, EU-28) Base: all establishments in the EU-28.

2. RA mystified (Too complicated only for experts)

ESENER-2 – Workplace risk assessments carried out regularly, by country (% estab. ) Base: all establishments.

External preventive services • In some MS Oi. RA is/could be perceived as a threat by the external preventive services/OSH experts • Arguments to overcome this perception/opinion: • Oi. RA is intended for companies with – 50 workers (generally speaking they do not contract external preventive services) • When the preventive measures to be implemented are described (in the tool) end-users are asked to specify the competences required (inviting the hiring of external preventive services if the competences required do not exist in house). • The tools foster the use of the internal preventive resources and its complementarity with the external ones.

Challenges to overcome (for the Agency intermediaries)

1. Adopt a sectoral approach • Risk prevention is not the main goal/concern for micro and small businesses • Micro and Small companies in general are not open to preventive messages concerning risks in general (outside their sectoral / occupational context). • Messages need to be simple, pragmatic and applicable to the reality of the specific sectors

2. Need to “reach” a big number of companies – need to establish partnerships • To reach micro and small companies it requires coordinated actions among different actors/preventive bodies • Need to establish partnerships with these actors / preventive bodies in order to disseminate / diffuse / promote the tools

3. Develop a support/help desk scheme to micro and small companies • Collective support to a big number/group of companies • Individual support (carried out by the employers organisations, helpline, . . ).

4. Empower micro and small companies • Encourage micro and small companies to manage OSH in house and in an autonomous way • Promote a preventive system maximising the resources in house • Promote “complementarity” with the external services • Increase risk awareness (and risk prevention in general)

5. Set up “incentives” schemes • The dutch example. - Small companies using the RI&E do not need to pay an OSH expert to certify-validate the risk assessment.