What is a prevention officer?

A healthy and safe workplace is important for everyone. A prevention officer has an important role in this. But what exactly is a prevention officer? And what are the duties of this important employee? Did you know that a prevention officer is required by law? You can read everything you need to know about a prevention officer in this article. So you can take a good step towards a safe and pleasant workplace.

What does a prevention officer do?

As the name suggests, a prevention officer focuses on preventing health and safety risks in the workplace. The duties of the prevention officer are laid down by law in the Working Conditions Act. In addition to these statutory duties, prevention officers often perform other health and safety-related tasks. What exactly these tasks entail varies from company to company. The tasks that the prevention officer is legally required to undertake are:

• Conducting the Risk Inventory & Evaluation (RI&E) (possibly together with others)
• (Co-)implement the action plan from the RI&E
• Collaborating with the occupational health and safety service or company doctor
• Cooperating with the works council

In these tasks, the prevention officer has both an executive and an advisory role. The precise interpretation of the tasks also depends on the company. The prevention officer builds a bridge between the employees and the employer and ensures that everyone is on the same page when it comes to health and safety within the company.

Safety = prevention x focus

The other tasks that the prevention officer often takes have to do with advising other employees on health and safety-related tasks. They also monitor compliance and investigate any incidents. It is therefore very important that the prevention officer is knowledgeable.

Who can be the prevention officer?

Every company is required by the Occupational Health & Safety Act to appoint a prevention officer. In small companies, with up to 25 employees, the prevention officer may be the employer himself. Does your company have more employees? Then another employee in the company must take on the task of prevention officer. In principle, any employee can fulfil the role of prevention officer. However, it is important that the employee is knowledgeable. It is therefore important to train a prevention officer adequately. This is where FeniksGroup can support you. We understand that it can be difficult for a (new) prevention officer to have knowledge of everything. In our prevention officer course, we teach your prevention officer everything he or she needs to know. This will certainly improve safety within your company!

Curious about what we can do for your company safety?
Please contact us without obligation.

January 5, 2022
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