Risk assessment and management training of trainers in Ukraine

The course provided occupational safety and health professionals with detailed guidance and methodology on the use of risk assessment as a tool to identify, evaluate and control risks in the workplace.

The objective of the course was to equip the participants with the knowledge and skills that would enable them to introduce a system for the conduct of risk assessments within their workplaces and the process of managing the risk assessments and to train others in risk assessment and management. Training of trainers in risk assessment and management is also a key activity in order to develop a network and pool of resource persons at local level.

The course programme led the participants through the process of simple risk assessment and then developed those skills through the application of risk assessment to the most common health and safety issues; workplace risk assessment; safe working at height; machinery safety; chemical safety; Legionella Management.

The workshop was attended by 30 participants, out of which eight were females. It gathered ten delegates from the private sector, nine representatives of trade union organizations, three labour inspectors from the Kiev region, two delegates from the National Research Institute of Industrial Safety and Health, four members of the OSH Training Center, one representative of the State Service of Mining Supervision and Industrial Safety of Ukraine, and the head of the Ukrainian National Observatory on Drugs and Alcohol.

The organization of this course revealed an important demand for OSH risk assessment courses in Ukraine, if possible adding a practical session at the enterprise workplace level. Delegates from the private sector insisted that many enterprises were keen on introducing risk assessment methods but that the key issue was lack of information and practical experience. The trainers from the OSH Training Centre decided to include a similar course on risk assessment and management into their own educational programme.