What documents from my company can I use?

In the preparatory phase you should gather all documents together which concern the working area selected, the occupational group selected, the individuals affected or the task.

It is important to know what working processes, agents and work equipment are used. Conduct a search to establish whether there are any accidents, near-accidents, work-related illnesses and perhaps also indications by workers of deficiencies in the work organisation.

The documents you should use include, for example:

• working instructions,
• reports from the meetings of the Occupational Safety and Health Committee,
• in-house documents on noise measurements, hazardous substances and equipment tests,
• existing on-site inspection records by company doctors and specialists for occupational safety and health,
• list of hazardous substances,
• documentation of quality management,
• hygiene plan or
• contingency plans.

But you can also identify dangers and exposures retrospectively by including

• operational disturbances and cases of damage,
• accident notifications,
• illness statistics and health reports,
• occupational illness notifications,
• accident books or
• documents concerning near-accidents

in your preparatory measures.