The institution maintains a “risk observatory” in order to identify new and emerging occupational risks and enable it to demand political, administrative and technical support that ensures high levels of safety and health at work.
Innovation at the workplace, changing work processes or the use of new products and materials at work can lead to exposure to new risks. Research in prevention plays a crucial role in identifying and addressing these risks. Research and development, including evaluation research, ensures constant improvement in the quality of provision of occupational safety and health services.
The institution provides measuring services to monitor and document the impact on the workplace of chemical or biological factors, exposure to hazardous substances and elements such as noise or vibration.
The results of valid measurement provide a solid basis for monitoring preventive action and the need for improvements, for research projects on the impact of workplace exposures and for the setting of threshold limits. The results of measurements also provide a basis for fair compensation in the event of an insurance claim.
The institution bases its prevention services on a systemic approach to risk assessment and promotes it as a general requirement for any insured activity by its members. It supports all members to carry out efficient risk assessment and provides them with an incentive to integrate it into daily operations.
The institution systematically and thoroughly assesses occupational accidents and occupational diseases as soon as possible after the event, and documents the results.
The purpose of this assessment is to help enterprises identify problematic conditions, behaviour or practice in the workplace and learn from and avoid similar occupational accidents or diseases at other workplaces. Assessment results are documented to provide statistical data and, where applicable, to form the basis for fair compensation.
The institution conducts on-site visits among its member enterprises, with clearly defined objectives and including consulting services focused on specific sectors of economic activity.
There are manifold reasons for a social security institution to carry out personal consulting activities among its member enterprises. Regular site visits are commonly based on defined frequency rates, which often depend on the specific risk category of the enterprise. Other important causes include the investigation of occupational accidents or a work history of exposures leading to occupational diseases.
The institution defines a clear policy for handling cases of occupational disease. It ensures that a process is set up to assess the degree of disability caused by the occupational disease.
In general, the same rehabilitation principles and measures are valid for occupational disease cases and occupational accidents as described in the ISSA Guidelines on Return to Work and Rehabilitation (e.g. Guideline 8, Combining medical treatment and vocational rehabilitation).
The institution has a system in place that facilitates an efficient and timely recognition of occupational diseases. It ensures that a process is set up to assess the causality between a professional activity and a disease.
The figure below provides an example of a systematic approach to occupational diseases, starting from individual suspicion of an occupational disease and notification to the final decision on whether or not the diseases will be recognized by the social security institution. The decision on such recognition depends on causality between the disease and the workplace in order for the disease to be classified as occupational.
