Criteria for Successful Occupational Health and Safety Risk Assessment: A Systematic Review

Abstract

It has become common practice in the workplace to assess occupational health and safety (OHS) risks with a variety of methods and standardized procedures. Although OHS risk assessment is widely applied in workplaces, its success is seldom assessed, and no criteria for this have been defined. This systematic literature review, carried out as per the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) statement, sought to answer two research questions: RQ1 “What criteria exist, if any, to assess the success of OHS risk assessment?” and RQ2 “What factors support the success of the risk assessment?”. The review included articles published between 1971 and 2021 from the Scopus and Web of Science databases. A total of 13 studies were chosen for detailed qualitative review. Four studies presented some criteria for success, but these were non-transparent, lacking a clear indication of the origins of the results and the supporting evidence. Factors supporting the success of OHS risk assessment include hazard identification, employee involvement, access to stored data, training, hazard review, communication of results, general hazard awareness, workplace-specific hazard awareness, and situational awareness. In contrast, lack of time, criteria for risk assessment methods, and a company’s insufficient support in obtaining the necessary information in carrying out an objective risk assessment were mentioned as barriers. This review, therefore, showed that no plausible criteria for successful OHS risk assessment are currently available. Further research is thus recommended to determine the criteria for the success and success factors for OHS risk assessment.