Halmeri is an occupational safety and health indicator for measuring the performance of employers’ safety management systems. The Halmeri questionnaire covers the most important elements of safety management. Halmeri can be used in all sectors of the economy, and it is a useful tool for employers wishing to improve occupational safety and health in the workplace.

The question categories are:

• organisation and practices relating to cooperation in occupational safety and health matters
• cooperation with occupational health care professionals
• occupational safety training and job-specific instruction
• managers’ and the organisation’s contribution to occupational safety
• employers’ independent occupational safety and health inspections (e.g. accident investigations), and
• analysis and assessment of risks associated with employees’ work.

Using Halmeri in inspections 

The Halmeri method can be used in occupational safety and health inspections when an inspector assesses the state of safety management at a workplace. To do so, the inspector can ask the employer to work with the occupational safety and health organisation to fill in the Halmeri form before the workplace inspection. 

The employer’s task is to assess the three most significant hazards and workload factors in the workplace from the perspective of health hazards and to describe related management measures that have been taken or planned. The employer can use the checklist for hazards and workload factors attached to the Halmeri form to help with the assessment. 

The responses to the Halmeri survey and the observations made by the inspector on working conditions are discussed during the inspection, and the inspector assesses whether everything is in order for each component. If necessary, the inspector issues written advice or improvement notices in the inspection report in order to oblige the employer to rectify any shortcomings the inspector has observed. 

If the Halmeri method was used during an inspection, the employer receives a Halmeri report as an attachment to the inspection report. The report includes the workplace’s Halmeri index, which depicts the relationship between matters that are well-managed and all assessed areas. In addition, the workplace receives the Halmeri index of inspected workplaces in the same sector for comparison to motivate the employer to improve working conditions.

More information about the use of the Halmeri approach to improve occupational safety can be found in a report on the effectiveness of measures to promote occupational safety and health and well-being at work published by the Finnish Institute of Occupational Health (in Finnish, abstract also in English).