Cleanzine: your weekly cleaning and hygiene industry newsletter 18th April 2024 Issue no. 1110
Your industry news - first
The original and best - for over 20 years!
We strongly recommend viewing Cleanzine full size in your web browser. Click our masthead above to visit our website version.
Lithuania develops OiRA tool for the cleaning sector
The State Labour Inspectorate of the Republic of Lithuania has developed a new Online Interactive Risk Assessment tool for the cleaning services sector, to help companies identify and assess workplace hazards and risks and develop a documented risk assessment and preventive action plan.
Interestingly, the developers acknowledge that one of the main difficulties faced by cleaning contractors is that as their work involves cleaning other companies' premises, it is more difficult for them to assess all the risks they might encounter at these workplaces, so the need to be able to carry out a professional risk assessment in each case, is paramount.
The tool is focused on the more hazardous areas of the job at hand, including working at height during the cleaning of big windows, the use of chemicals at work and so on. The tool can also be used by companies that have their own in-house cleaners.
The four main stages in the risk assessment process, covered by the tool, are:
* Preparation: The tool will give you an overall picture of the risk assessment it is going to perform. It will adapt it to your needs, depending on your activity.
* Setting: OiRA will measure and reflect the diversity of potential hazards or problems regarding health & safety in whichever workplace you happen to be in, based on your responses to its statements / questions designed to confirm whether such hazards or problems exist in that workplace or not. If necessary, you can leave a question open and go back and answer it later.
* Rating: Here you can set the tool for each level of risk.
* Action Plan: At the fourth assessment stage, you have to decide what measures you will take to eliminate the risks identified, and what resources are needed. Based on the information, the next phase will be an automatically prepared statement.
You do not need any special training to start using the tool.
9th March 2017