The European Agency for Safety and Health at Work (EU-OSHA), in collaboration with the Occupational Health and Safety Authority (OHSA-Malta), has launched the Online interactive Risk Assessment tool (OiRA), which can be used for work within an office setting.

OiRA is an online risk assessment tool that facilitates the process of risk assessment. OiRA was mainly developed to assist small and micro-enterprises.

However, it can be used by anyone interested in identifying and assessing the risks that may be present at the workplace.

Following the identification and assessment of risks, one can formulate an action plan which will stipulate the way risks must be addressed. The action plan will be tailored to the business’s requirements, hence providing a practical approach.

OiRA has been also developed into Maltese and takes into consideration the local occupational health and safety legislation to facilitate its use. In terms of regulation 10 of the General Provisions for Health and Safety at Work Places, LN. 36 of 2003, employers and self-employed have the duty to carry out, or ensure that is carried out a suitable, sufficient and systematic assessment of all the occupational health and safety hazards which may be present at the place of work and the resultant risks involved concerning all aspects of the work activity.

Commenting on the importance of OiRA, the authority’s CEO Mark Gauci said: “Through the use of OiRA, such a critical process as the carrying out of a risk assessment, will be facilitated and enhanced with the end result of achieving an improvement in the level of occupational health and safety. OiRA will also facilitate compliance and promote workers’ consultation and involvement in matters pertaining to occupational health and safety. It also reduces costs for duty holders.”

The process of using OiRA involves the following stages:

1. Preparation – the user will be provided with an overview of risk assessment with the option of customising the assessment in accordance to the nature of the business in question;

2. Identification – the user will be presented with a number of potential hazards and problems that may be present at the place of work. The user must answer the questions with either a yes or no. However, questions may also be left unanswered and thus put on hold to be answered at a later stage;

3. Evaluation – following the identification of hazards, the user will determine the level of risks pertaining to the identified hazards; and

4. Action Plan – this process will formulate a specific action plan based on the information provided by the user. The action plan will contain the necessary preventive and control measures that must be adopted to address the identified risks.