A Sustainable Risk Assessment Method for Workers With Disabilities – An ICT-Based Tool to Help SMEs Managers

Abstract Sustainability and workplace safety are deeply interconnected, both playing a crucial role in fostering a healthy and responsible work environment. In the realm of workplace safety, sustainability encompasses practices and policies designed to protect employee well-being, safeguard the environment, and ensure the organization's long-term success. Also, the metalwork welding industry is dominated by small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) that do not have full-time staff for occupational health and safety and, as is well known, industry-wide, that occupational accident and disease rates are often twice as high among SMEs compared to large enterprises. Furthermore, considering that the issue of workers with disabilities in very rare approached in the OSH world, the authors of the paper responds to the needs of such small and medium-sized enterprises by proposing a risk assessment method that is addressed to managers and staff with attributions regarding occupational safety and health of disabled workers in SMEs where welding activities are carried out, to help them identify the risks and to know what measures must be taken.