A Methodology for Assessing the Risk of Injury at the Workplace of Employees With Disabilities

Abstract

The modern approach to ensuring the occupational safety of workers in Ukraine should rely on a risk-oriented approach. Essential requirements for risk assessment methods are a sufficient level of informativeness, reliability of results, and the ability to adapt them to the conditions in which the methods will apply. In particular, it concerns the assessment of injury risks at workplaces of representatives of vulnerable groups of workers—primarily elderly workers and workers with disabilities. Difficulties in assessing workplace injury risks for vulnerable groups of workers limit the development of occupational inclusion at a time when promoting the employment of people with disabilities has become a key priority for governments around the world. The article aims to develop a methodology for assessing risks at the workplaces of employees with disabilities one can use to evaluate the level of risk at enterprises, particularly in small and medium-sized businesses. When determining the injury risks to employees of vulnerable groups, one should account for both the individual characteristics of the employee and the characteristics of the workplace and work process. The input information is the conclusions of the medical experts regarding the types and degrees of impact of life restrictions, as well as the value of individual risk according to the company’s field of activity. The analysis of the workplace, planned for the employment of a person with a disability, of the technological process, and the surrounding working environment follows the factors the company forms based on their internal and external context. Comparing the result with the limit value of the risk is necessary to decide on the possibility of performing work tasks by the employee and the need to take additional safety measures. When choosing a risk threshold against which to compare the assessment result, the company must consider its goals for achieving the required level of safety. Thus, this technique allows one to carry out a comprehensive assessment of the level of risk at the disabled employee’s workplace, which will contribute to increasing the level of occupational safety and professional integration of persons with disabilities. Keywords: risk, disability, workplace, labour process, injuries.