Identifying occupational health and safety risk assessment development
needs in Finnish case companies
Authors: Rantala Minna , Lindholm Maria , Tappura Sari , Kivistö-Rahnasto Jouni 
Published: July 2023

Risk assessment is a key tool in occupational safety work at workplaces.
A systematic risk assessment can be used to meet the statutory obligation to
determine and assess the hazard and risk factors for the safety and health
of employees in companies of all sizes. Furthermore, by developing risk
assessments, workplaces can reduce accidents and improve the safety and
healthiness of working conditions. Since a lot of time and resources are
used for risk assessment at workplaces, the assessment should be efficient
and successful. With risk assessment, companies can simultaneously improve
job productivity and competitiveness and support the preservation of
workers' ability to work. Previous studies have suggested that risk
assessment development needs include, for example, the development of
resourcing and improvement of communication, competence and knowledge. This
study aims to produce knowledge of Finnish workplaces' risk assessment
development needs related to safety and health at work in order to better
meet the company's own needs. The material was acquired with a new
questionnaire that aids organizations in finding out personnel's perceptions
of the practices and development needs of occupational safety risk
assessment. Based on the responses, development targets can be identified,
and risk assessment skills in different parts of an organization can be
compared. The questionnaire can be used to determine, for example, whether
the objectives of risk assessment have been understood within an
organization. The questionnaire includes both closed and open-ended
questions. The open-ended questions clarify previous selections and for
example, suggest ways to arrange training to an organization. The
questionnaire was part of a larger project, and the questions were based on
previous phases of the project. Four companies piloted the questionnaire.
After receiving feedback, a few modifications were made. The process and
methods of creating the questionnaire will be described in more detail in
the article. The final questionnaire was sent to three organizations. The
first is a part of a public organization, the second is a private company in
the transport sector, and the third organization provides maintenance
services for industrial companies. The companies' contact persons forwarded
the link to the questionnaire respondents, and 348 responses were received.
The results were analyzed both quantitatively and qualitatively. The
revealed development needs generally concerned, among others, the planning
of risk assessment, which includes for instance risk assessment goals and
frameworks planned by the organizations. Regarding the definition of
measures, the determination of risk assessment and management was raised. In
addition, communication about the progress of the determined measures, going
through the risk assessment with the employees, giving feedback to those
conducting the assessment, and clearly documenting the results were among
the identified development needs. Next, a practical model for workplaces to
develop their occupational health and safety risk assessments will be
developed.