Health prevention in the workplace is the responsibility of the employer and is based on a certain number of principles, tools and best practices. It is also based on three fundamental and essential values:respect for people, transparency and social dialogue. Finally, it requires establishing actions aimed at informing and training employees. A better understanding of occupational hazards makes it possible to better understand threats and limit them, for better working conditions. We help you see more clearly and adopt the right behaviors.
Let’s define together what occupational health prevention is
Registered in the Labor Code, health prevention in companies is a regulatory obligation . It takes care to preserve the physical and mental health of employees, but also to ensure their safety and improve their well-being within companies. With a human and financial stake, it aims to strengthen performance through motivation and the improvement of the environment. There is therefore every interest in taking a close interest in the prevention of occupational risks.
Prevention policy in a business life in 4 steps
Step 1:Define the different occupational health risks
Knowledge is power. Being aware of the main occupational risks helps to reduce and/or avoid them and preserve health. Many of them stem from bad posture, misused dangerous products or lack of experience in an activity.
Occupational risks can have different natures and depend on the activity of the company:
- Mechanics :repeated gestures, cuts, crushing, unnatural posture, etc.
- Physical :too low or too high temperatures, poor light, poor air quality, high noise level, etc.
- Chemicals :exposure to toxic substances, carcinogenic or mutagenic, corrosive or irritating substances, etc.
- Organic :inhalation or exposure to infectious or allergenic elements, etc.
- Radiology :radiation, radiation, electromagnetism, etc.
- Psychological :aggression, harassment, stress, etc.
Be careful not to confuse dangers and risks. It is possible to handle dangerous products while limiting the risks with precautionary measures. Risk is therefore a matter of probability.
Step 2:Prevent risks related to working conditions
It is the responsibility of the company manager to ensure safety and protect health (whether physical or mental) of its employees. As such, prevention is its responsibility and is based on nine pillars:
- Dismiss the risks
- Examine the risks that cannot be
- Fighting risks
- Organizing work around people
- Keep abreast of technological advances
- Substitute what is dangerous with what is less dangerous
- Establishing health prevention based on techniques, organizations and working conditions
- Do what is necessary to protect the collective
- Update employees
Use these principles to form the basis of workplace prevention programs.
Step 3:Implementation of a preventive health approach
Health prevention is divided into three groups:
- Primary prevention :limit the appearance of risk factors. For psychosocial risks, for example, it is possible to review the organization and working conditions. Likewise, when possible, replace a dangerous product with a safer equivalent.
- Secondary prevention :it is no longer a question here of avoiding a risk but of damage. However, the risk is not completely eliminated, but the individual has the means to deal with it. To do this, the emphasis is placed on people, with the provision of protective equipment to escape burns, for example, or training in stress management to protect against burnout.
- Tertiary prevention :This last category aims to limit the damage and complications that follow. Following a verbal attack, psychological support can, for example, be put in place.
Step 4:Take different approaches
Depending on the activity and in parallel:
- Individual or collective :the first aid to protect each employee, individual by individual. It is sometimes useful to use it to control a risk. Example:vaccination. The second aims to protect all employees without dissociation. Example:equipping the premises with a fire alarm.
- Technical, medical and/or legal :for the former, it is a question of work equipment such as machines for example. The second relate to health services such as occupational medicine or company mutual insurance. The latter refer to State texts which require compliance with or application of measures (health and safety, for example) at the risk of being sanctioned.
Do you need advice and support to implement health prevention programs and actions in your company? A Mutuelle Mieux-Etre adviser can assist you in your efforts.
