There are various types of occupational accidents that can occur during work. For example, people can fall from a ladder or become involved in an accident with a machine. In 2003, RIVM started a project aimed at calculating the risk of an occupational accident. For that purpose, databases were created, various projects were carried out, and a calculation model was developed. The calculation model and associated tools are no longer actively managed. However, the methodology remains available. This page provides a brief historical overview of the available information.

Working safe means working in an environment where the probability of accident occurrence is small. Often, this is not small enough. In the Netherlands, approximately 7 million employees work in some 500,000 companies. Every year, 230,000 workers have an accident. This is more than 600 victims a day. One third of these victims are (temporarily) no longer at work due to their accident. Every year, eighty to ninety people die as a result of an occupational accident. That is almost two deaths per week.

Work-related accidents are estimated to provide approximately 5 to 10% of the total disease burden caused by working conditions. The bulk of the disease burden is due to chronic exposure to harmful substances, physical stress and physical factors.

Production, transportation, storage and use of substances can lead to risks at the workplace. The government tries to minimise these risks by regulation.

The production and use of advanced (nano)materials have been rapidly increasing for decades. Workers may be exposed to these materials during their production, processing or handling, or while working with products that contain them. RIVM advises the Ministry of Social Affairs and Employment (SZW) on policymaking. These policies aim to ensure that people can work safely with these materials.

Storybuilder is a software tool developed for the Dutch Ministry of Social Affairs and Employment. It supports occupational and major accident analysis, investigation, inspection and identification of ways to improve safety.