Occupational risk & exposure profiles

OREPs accomplish several objectives, such as to:

• Secure legal compliance (Employment Equity Act, Labour Relations Act, Occupational Health & Safety Act, Mines Health & Safety Act, National Road Traffic Act, and others)
• Determine medical testing requirements
• Provide inputs for incapacity management
• Guide training needs

The inherent requirements of the job (left side of the OREP)

These are obtained through interviews with the appropriate people who know the essential functions of the job, such as the employees in the jobs and their line managers. Capability requirement scores are assigned using Synergee’s tables of pre-determined scores to improve the reproducibility of these ratings.

Optionally, the following scores may also be assigned:

• Consequence Scores are determined by the potential severity of an incident that may occur if the capability standard is not met. These scores are assigned using the standard Synergee safety risk matrix.
• Probability Scores are determined by the probability of an incident that may occur if the capability standard is not met. These scores are assigned using the standard Synergee safety risk matrix.

The health hazards to which the job may be exposed (right side of the OREP)

These are obtained through interviews with the people who know the job, or by my direct observation, plus evaluation of WHRA reports. Harmfulness and exposure scores are assigned using Synergee’s standardised 5×5 health risk matrix to improve the reproducibility of these ratings.

The following image illustrates these components of the OREP.

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The following image describes the sequence of events that enable the compilation of OREPs, as well as how they fit into a medical testing strategy. The image also points out that OREPs can be used for training, guiding recruitment strategy, and facilitating employee work performance.

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