The work was created according to the provisions of the work safety legislation in

force, regarding the obligation of the management of the economic agents to correctly

determine the risk factors in order to ensure the measures for prevention of accidents and

professional illnesses. The analysis presents the main aspects of the frequent mistakes that may

arise in the risk assessment. So, it has been concluded that risks are inevitable in business, and

that each activity is unique, as well as the risks from one activity to another or from one group of

activities to another. Under these circumstances, it has been established that the success of an

enterprise depends on how the risks were managed

Dan DOBROTĂ

S. DIMULESCU

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Fiabilitate si Durabilitate - Fiability & Durability   No 1/ 2018 
 Editura “Academica Brâncuşi” , Târgu Jiu, ISSN 1844 – 640X 
 
 
400 
RISK ANALISYS REGARDING HEALTH AND SAFETY AT WORK 
 
 
S. DIMULESCU, S.C. DEDEMAN S.R.L, Gorj, Romania 
Dan DOBROTĂ, Lucian Blaga University of Sibiu, Sibiu, Romania 
 
 
 
ABSTRACT: The work was created according to the provisions of the work safety legislation in 
force,  regarding the obligation of the management of the economic agents to correctly 
determine the risk factors in order to ensure the measures for prevention of accidents and 
professional illnesses. The analysis presents the main aspects of the frequent mistakes that may 
arise in the risk assessment. So, it has been concluded that risks are inevitable in business, and 
that each activity is unique, as well as the risks from one activity to another or from one group of 
activities to another. Under these circumstances,  it has been established that the success of an 
enterprise depends on how the risks were managed. 
 
Keywords: risks, occupational health, occupational safety, occupational illnesses 
 
 
1.Introduction 
Safety and health at work is generally defined as the science of anticipating the 
assessment and management of danger that occur in work systems and that can affect the 
health and well-being of workers. Its field of study is very extensive, summing up a 
significant number of disciplines requiring a large spectrum of structures, skills, knowledge, 
skills and analytical capacities [1, 2]. 
Correct understanding and assimilation of the fundamental concepts of professional risk 
assessment, knowledge of concepts and models on which work methods are based on, correct 
perception of the way of application and interpretation of the obtained results, possession of 
competences regarding identification, evaluation and managing professional risks, 
assimilation of methods of preventing occupational accidents and diseases as well as the 
techniques of training and development of skills regarding preventive behavior represent not 
only mandatory benchmarks, but also distinct priorities in the professional training of 
specialists in the field [3, 4].  
Occupational risk assessment is an essential step in implementing responsible health and 
safety at work approaches. Work must meet the minimum legal security requirements in force 
before an occupational risk assessment at the workplace is carried out. 
When performing a risk assessment, a systematic review of all aspects of the work should 
be carried out in order to establish the following factors [5]: 
- the causes of possible injuries; 
- the possibilities of eliminating hazards and the prevention or protection measures that 
are or must be implemented to control the risks. 
There are several steps to be followed when assessing the risks [6]: 
- identifying the hazards and the persons exposed to them; 
- risk assessment and classification according to priority; 
- establishing risk prevention actions; 
- taking concrete measures and ensuring the realization resources; 
- monitoring and review. 
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Optimizing work to prevent accidents at work and / or occupational illnesses has as its 
starting point the assessment of the risks of injury and professional illness. 
 
 
      2.Risk evaluation 
       The basis for the risk assessment principle is to take into account two parameters: 
- frequency of accidents; 
- the gravity of the foreseeable maximum consequence. 
The purpose of the risk assessment is to provide the opportunity to know the real 
situation at each job, from the point of view of the work safety, in order to take the most 
appropriate prevention measures. By turning from possibility into reality, the action of risk 
factors becomes an effective threat to the performer, which can either lead to violent bodily 
harm, by damaging anatomic integrity, causing the  cancellation of one or more of the 
physiological functions, or to body affections. If such events occur, it means that the risk 
factors have constituted real causes of injury or professional illness. However, it is not 
possible to determine very rigorously the two categories. Under certain conditions, the 
specific difference is only given by the level and the duration of exposure of the human body, 
so that a disease factor can become an injury factor and vice versa. 
For example, up to a certain level noise is a disease factor producing diseases of the 
auditory body, its sudden appearance at a very high intensity leads to work accidents either in 
the form of trauma to the hearing organ, or by covering an important technological signal, 
causing an unintentional reaction by the performer. In relation to risk factors - causes 
according to the deterministic conception in the objective reality there is nothing without 
being caused by a cause. Any cause is the effect of another cause and also causes other 
effects. The surrounding reality in a continuous transformation thus presents itself as a 
multitude of cause-effect connections. Occupational accidents and occupational diseases are 
the final moments, the effects of unwanted causal connections. 
When undertaking a risk assessment, both employers or their representatives, as well 
as their employees or their representatives with specific responsibilities in the field of 
occupational safety and health, respectively, of the Occupational Health and Safety 
Committees (CSSM) must be involved. Workers' consultation should be part of the 
professional risk assessment process. They should also be informed of the conclusions 
regarding the evaluation and the prevention measures to be taken. 
Risk assessment aims to continuously improve working conditions and therefore 
adequate and sustained documentation needs to be developed. When performing such an 
assessment, various errors may occur, such as: 
- not involving a team in risk assessment or non-involvement of employees with 
practical knowledge of the work processes or even of the occupational medicine physician. 
The occupational medicine physician has an important role in identifying risk factors at work. 
The occupational medicine physician should supervise the health of employees in accordance 
with the particularities of exposure to risk factors. The occupational medicine physician must 
regularly go to the workplaces he oversees, making recommendations about work 
organization, how to work ergonomically, and assigning work tasks, taking into account the 
ability and ability of employees to execute them. As a result of the assessments, the 
occupational medicine physician draws up precise and complete reports to the employer, 
employees and authorities.  
- lack of a competent and experienced person to properly assess the risks. Each job has 
Fiabilitate si Durabilitate - Fiability & Durability   No 1/ 2018 
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402 
its own specific character and therefore it is necessary to make a fair assessment at the job, 
not an analysis based on a lists with general risks. The specialist assessor will have to choose 
a method or rating technique folded to the job evaluated. Experts in risk assessment need to 
know the working places well. 
- non-consideration of the psychosocial and organizational factors in the long run. 
Psychosocial risk factors, as psychological stressors, are the result of the interaction between 
professional factors (workload through content and its characteristics, work environment, 
interpersonal relationships, management practices, promotion conditions, maintenance) and 
factors (capacity, abilities, needs, aspirations, education level, culture, etc.). When these two 
categories of factors are in balance, the effects are beneficial for both professional success, 
performance, job satisfaction and the safety and health of workers. If the balance between the 
two categories of factors does not exist, or when the professional requirements and working 
conditions do not correspond to individual capacities, abilities and aspirations, the 
psychosocial risks and their negative effects on professional performance as well as on the 
health and safety of workers arise. 
- the lack of equal importance of secondary jobs. The risk assessor must treat every 
job with the same importance no matter how simple that job looks like. 
- non-consideration of risks specific to risk-sensitive groups (pregnant women, young 
people, people with disabilities, the elderly). According to European statistics, the risk of 
having to deal with work accidents is much higher for young workers than for the elderly, 
young workers are immature, inexperienced and require additional protection. They often 
work in sectors and high-risk circumstances such as construction, agriculture, hotels, catering, 
temporary contracts and weekend jobs. Therefore, they must carry out safe and appropriate 
activities, appropriate to their mental and physical abilities. 
- during the assessment process, no account is taken of the history of the accidents, of 
the hazardous incidents that have taken place and of the declared occupational diseases. 
- the influence of the working environment and the microclimate factors are not taken 
into account. A microclimate is what inspires most people, a sense of environmental 
satisfaction identified with the term "environmental quality" or simply "comfort". Workplace 
microclimate factors such as temperature, humidity, lighting, noise, clothing, and the intensity 
of physical activity can cause employees a variety of biological responses ranging from a state 
of well to a state of discomfort and even stress. Microclimate is the component of the physical 
work environment consisting of all the conditions of temperature, humidity and noise at work. 
- organizing effective working time and rest breaks. Following the daily demands of 
the body by human activity, the state of fatigue appears. The fatigue state has an objective 
basis determined by the energy consumption during the activity that it is compensated by 
eating and resting. 
Causes that determine fatigue are related to: 
     - human factor (physiological deficiency, negative affective states); 
     - working machine, tool (functional characteristics, degree of automation); 
     - environmental characteristics (temperature, noise, humidity, social environment); 
     - work load (working regime, labor monotony, overworking of high 
responsibilities); 
 
 
 
 
Fiabilitate si Durabilitate - Fiability & Durability   No 1/ 2018 
 Editura “Academica Brâncuşi” , Târgu Jiu, ISSN 1844 – 640X 
 
 
403 
3.Conclusions 
Risk analysis can establish measures to prevent accidents and occupational illnesses. 
Risks are inevitable in business, and because each activity is unique, the risks from one 
activity to another or from one group of activities to another. 
The main risks to health and safety at work are: 
- Inappropriate organization of effective working time and rest breaks; 
- influence of the working environment and of the microclimate factors; 
- failure to take into account the risks specific to sensitive groups; 
- the lack of equal treatment of secondary jobs; 
- not taking into account in the long term the risk identification of the psychosocial 
and organizational factors; 
- not involving a team in risk assessment or non-involvement of employees with 
practical knowledge of work processes. 
 
References 
 [1] Darabont, Al., Pece,St., 1996, Protectia muncii, Editura Didactica si Pedagocica, 
Bucuresti. 
[2] Darabont Al., Pece,St., Dascalescu, A., 2001, Managementul securitatii si sanatatii in 
munca (vol. I si II), Editura AGIR. 
[3] Moraru, R.,Babut, G., 2009, Managementul riscurilor: abordare globala-concepte, 
principii si structura, Editura Universitas, Petrosani. 
[4] Pece, St., 1993, Metode de analiza apriorica a riscurilor profesionale, I.N.I.D., Bucuresti. 
[5] ***,H.G. nr.1425/2006 pentru aprobarea Normelor metodologice de aplicare a 
prevederilor Legii securitatii si sanatatii in munca nr.319/2006, aprobate H.G. 
nr.1425/2006, Monitorul Oficial al Romaniei, Partea I, RNR. 925/27.12.2011. 
[6] *** H.G. nr. 955/2010 pentru modificarea si completarea Normelor metodologice de 
aplicare a prevederilor Legii securitatii si sanatatii in munca nr. 319/2006, aprobate  H.G. 
nr. 1425/2006, Monitorul Oficial al Romaniei, Partea I, nr. 661/27.09.2010. 
 


RISK ANALISYS REGARDING HEALTH AND SAFETY AT WORK

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