RATIONALE AND CRITERIA DEVELOPMENT FOR RISK ASSESSMENT TOOL SELECTION IN WORK ENVIRONMENTS

Work accidents prevention is one of the strongest paradigms of safety management. When developing its own mental accident causation model, the occupational health and safety professional should acknowledge the benefits and drawbacks of the various available models, to be able to critically assess the most fitted risk assessment tools for practical applications. Nevertheless, he should be skilled enough to make the difference between "what is happening?" and what "should happen?" in the work environment. This paper is aimed at developing a rational systematization of 31 occupational risk assessment methods. It gives clear selection criteria for practical application of most adequate tools. The results obtained will support the decision - making process within the health and safety management process in industrial work environments.