The Impact of Accounting for Industrial Hazards on the Efficiency of Occupational Risk Management

Abstract

In accordance with the decisions of the Government of the Russian Federation, the occupational safety management system is being reformed in the country. The new model of this system, built on the basis of occupational risk management techniques, in particular, using the Deming — Shewhart cycle, makes it possible to qualitatively improve the prevention of occupational injuries. To methodologically support the transition to a new model of labor protection, the main regulatory documents were prepared and approved, and additions were made to the Labor Code of the Russian Federation. However, the introduction of preventive mechanisms to improve working conditions is hampered by the problem of taking into account injuries of light and moderate severity. The established long-term practice of ignoring a significant number of industrial hazards conflicts with the requirements of mandatory implementation of procedures for managing occupational risks, which affects the efficiency of the activities carried out. In particular, in the European Union countries 10–40 times more accidents are registered than in Russia, but at the same time the injury severity rate there is 10 times lower. The International Labor Organization, using a special indicator on fatal injury statistics, suggested that the real number of people injured at work in Russia could range from 600 thousand to 1.2 million people in year. Using the example of Heinrich injury pyramid, the methods for recognizing industrial hazards that are in an obvious and hidden state are considered. Evidence-based statistics on the positive impact of the number of identified hazards on workplace safety are also provided. Taking into account the existing practice of risk accounting, it is proposed to use the injury severity coefficient as the main indicator of production safety. At the same time, one should strive not to reduce the injury frequency rate, but, on the contrary, to increase it, which will indicate an improvement in the recording of injuries.