Seventy-six percent of enterprises in the EU-28 perform risk assessments regularly. As expected, there is a positive correlation with company size, when measured by country the values range from 94% of all enterprises in Italy and Slovenia to 37% enterprises in Luxembourg. Most of the companies surveyed which carry out regular risk assessments consider it a useful way of managing occupational safety and health (90%). Enterprises that do not perform regular risk assessments justify it by stating that the risks and hazards are already known (83%) and that there are no major problems (80%).
In 61% of enterprises, health and safety issues are regularly discussed at the top level of management, and the proportion increases according to the size of the enterprise. By country, this is reported most frequently in the Czech Republic (81%), the United Kingdom (79%) and Romania (75%). As far as the reasons that motivate enterprises to manage OSH, fulfilling the legal obligation is reported to be the main reason (85%). The second most important motivator is to meet the expectations of employees or their representatives.
All enterprises participating in ESENER-2 were also asked about how they promote health among employees. The most commonly cited measure (35% of enterprises in the EU-28) is raising awareness about preventing addiction (smoking, alcohol, drugs), raising awareness about nutrition (29%) and promoting sports activities outside working hours (28%). Measures for promoting health are most frequently reported by enterprises in the field of education, human health and social work activities.
The entire study is available for download from EU-OSHA website here or at www.esener.eu.
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Article source EU-OSHA - European Agency for Safety & Health at Work