Occupational Safety and Health

Concerned about extra costs? Let's reduce them!

– Avoid fines and penalties;

– Reduce health risks at work;

– Reduce accident rates and medical leaves.

Transform Occupational Health and Safety into a Valued Asset!

Create safe and healthy environments for your employees!

Medical Consultations (Occupational Medicine - OM)

Improve the physical and mental health conditions of Workers and prevent workplace accidents.

Do the consultations take into account the worker's medical history and background?

Problem:
Many companies in the market do not pay attention to clinical backgrounds such as disease history, hereditary factors, etc.

Consequence:
The mission of OHS services is not only to prevent workplace accidents but also to prevent and identify workers’ health risks. The absence of screening processes does not contribute to good health prevention for workers and may incur costs related to diseases.

Do the consultations consider the mental health and well-being of the workers?

Problem:
A large part of OHS companies does not include this important dimension in their clinical evaluation.

Consequence:
Psychosocial risks arise from deficiencies in the design, organization, and management of work, as well as from a problematic social work context, potentially having negative psychological, physical, and social effects, such as work-related stress, burnout, or depression.

Complementary Exams (CEs)

Assess the health and work capacity of workers, identify occupational risks, and prevent work-related diseases.

Do the consultations include complementary exams (CEDs)?

Problem:
Some OHS companies present only consultation values without exams to offer a competitive price.

Consequence:
The proposal presented will later be increased with the inclusion of these mandatory exams.

Are the exams appropriate and conducted according to risk exposure?

Problem:
There are companies that do not provide the indicated exams or all the exams indicated for the workers’ functions.

Consequence:
The contracted services do not meet the real needs of the company and the worker. As a result, it will be an actual financial cost without return for the company and a health risk for the worker.

Data Evaluated by Occupational Safety Integrated with Occupational Health

Integration of information processed by the occupational safety area into a single system, facilitating access and analysis by the health team (nurse and occupational doctor) to improve the prevention of accidents, injuries, and diseases originating or enhanced in the workplace.

To what extent are medical data cross-referenced with safety data?

Problem:
Many companies do not analyze information related to workstations and environments in an integrated manner with the worker’s health status and clinical history.

Consequence:
The service provision will not add added value to the client. Both areas are complementary. Legally, they must be worked on together for the benefit of workers and the client.

Occupational Diseases

Prevent occupational diseases, identify potential work-related health problems, and promote a safe and healthy work environment.

When an occupational disease is investigated by official entities, are the OHS team members (doctor, nurse, and Safety Technician) sent and the risk assessments carried out presented?

Problem:
Companies usually do not provide their resources or will charge separately for the hours spent.

Consequence:
The service is thus incomplete and will represent an additional cost for the client.

Work Accidents

Investigation of the causes that led to a specific work accident and analysis of the actions to be implemented to prevent recurrence, preventing future accidents.

Does the proposal include the services and costs inherent to the treatment of all work accidents?

Problem:
A large part of external OHS services does not clearly include the characterization of all work accidents in client companies in their proposals.

Consequence:
In addition to presenting an incomplete service, this will be an additional cost presented later to the client.

Risk Prevention and Assessment Plan

Identify, analyze, and assess the highest risk indicators, promoting all necessary actions to improve the safety and health conditions of workers, preventing work accidents, occupational diseases, and promoting safe and healthy workplaces.

Are risk assessments carried out at the workers' workplace, covering all risk groups and encompassing their possible vulnerabilities, or only in the general space (infrastructure)?

Problem:

A risk assessment provides for the analysis and evaluation of all workstations and the exposure to risks of their workers, such as identifying possible vulnerabilities or physical conditions, ensuring the definition of appropriate prevention and protection measures.

A large part of the assessments carried out represents a general analysis of the work environment, with a primary focus on the company’s infrastructure, neglecting the worker’s condition, their information, and consultation, resulting in plans with general measures that are difficult to apply or with ineffective results.

Consequence:

The price will certainly be lower, however, the work carried out will be incomplete, not considering the real needs of the workers, not promoting their adequate information regarding the risks they are exposed to, as well as information on the measures to be adopted for their protection, which ultimately results in ineffective risk management of workplaces and the promotion of improvements in each worker’s health status.

Verify if the RA data will be analyzed, processed, and conclusions presented in a report

Problem:
A large part of OHS companies simply present the survey results without any data processing and without useful outputs.

Consequence:
The raw results of a survey do not bring value to the company, as they do not allow for conclusions and corrective actions. In other words, it will be an actual cost without benefit for the company.

Verify if, in case of changes in the workplace, new follow-up visits are included

Problem:
Many OHS companies do not include follow-up in the service and in the implementation of improvement actions.

Consequence:
It will be a new unaccounted cost that will be presented later to the client.

Verify if the RA includes all activities (routine and non-routine) performed by workers inside the facilities and also outside, accompanying workers in all the activities they perform?

Problem:
Some OHS services do not accompany workers in all the tasks performed, limiting themselves to verifying the work carried out on the premises and not analyzing activities developed outside when traveling to clients or others that also pose risks likely to cause accidents or occupational diseases.

Consequence:
Thus, the risk assessment will be incomplete, not identifying all the risks to which workers are exposed and not providing the necessary clarifications to the employer to prevent ATs and ODs in their entirety.

Assessment of Measurable Risk Factors

Identify and quantify the different risk factors that can be measured and that may increase the likelihood of accidents or occupational diseases.

Are measurable risk factors (lighting, thermal comfort or stress, occupational noise) included in the contract and will they be carried out with a view to presenting a report with results and proposed measures related to risk assessment and complementary diagnostic exams conducted in the occupational medicine consultation?

Problem:
Some companies do not conduct the assessment of measurable factors according to the activity (e.g., occupational noise).

Consequence:
The Risk Assessment thus becomes incomplete, as the risk factors are not measured and, therefore, concrete measures for the reality under study are not defined. The definition of concrete measures to be executed, as well as the development of a control program for a specific risk, is only possible after its correct measurement and evaluation.

Annex D of the Single Report

The Single Report is a mandatory document in Portugal, which must be completed annually by companies and submitted to the competent authorities.

Verify if Annex D of the single report is included in the OHS value. Are the data confirmed, the delegation properly carried out, and does the content correspond to the service actually provided by the service provider?

Problem:
In the OHS market, many operators do not provide support in this area, only placing the data that “belongs” to them, often parameterized in automatic mode and not according to the service actually provided.

Consequence:
Annex D of the single report summarizes and should reflect how the company manages OHS. Thus, the service provider must assist the client company, filling in the data according to the legal obligations required and with the actual data according to the service effectively provided, avoiding the application of fines.

Consultation with Workers

Consultation with workers is a mandatory requirement that promotes active contribution and involvement of workers to reduce occupational risks and workplace accident rates in companies.

Is the mandatory consultation with workers carried out according to their professional activity (does it comply with the established periodicity and are the data properly processed?)

Problem:
A large part of OHS companies conduct surveys with workers and simply present the results without any data processing and without integrating them into the management of occupational risks. Often, this consultation with workers has an additional cost, presented separately.

Consequence:
The simple application of surveys and presentation of statistical results, without integrating into the management of occupational risks, does not add value to the company as it does not allow for conclusions and defining necessary corrective actions. In other words, it will be an actual cost without the due benefit for the company.

Health Promotion

Ensure the physical, mental, and social well-being of individuals in the work environment. These actions aim to prevent diseases, promote healthy lifestyles, and improve the quality of life of workers.

Are health promotion actions carried out, taking into account the risks and health status of the working population?

Why? Many companies have, in their portfolio, isolated health promotion actions that are applied in companies without first identifying the real needs of the workers and/or the company.

Consequences: Health promotion actions without strategy, applied in isolation, guarantee few results either for the worker or for the change in the work environment.