Is a written risk assessment mandatory in Israel, and how often must it be reviewed?

Yes for workplaces with 50 or more workers: Israeli law requires a written safety management programme (תכנית לניהול הבטיחות) that contains a structured risk analysis, and the occupier must have it updated every year and whenever a new hazard is introduced. Smaller workplaces need it only if a regional labour inspector orders it, but every employer must give each worker written information on the risks of the job.

Short answer

• Legal basis: section 8D of the Labour Inspection (Organisation) Law 5714-1954 and the Labour Inspection (Organisation) Regulations (Safety Management Programme) 5773-2013.
• Who: factories and other workplaces covered by the Work Safety Ordinance with 50 or more workers; listed sectors (hospitals and care institutions, higher education, research, hotels, commerce including malls, airports and airlines, local authorities, sanitation and water corporations, cooperative settlements) and agriculture with 50 or more; construction with 50 or more workers on site at the same time; any workplace ordered in writing by a regional labour inspector.
• Review: the occupier must ensure the programme is prepared and updated every year for any new issue or issue needing an update, and must review how far it is implemented.
• Exceptions: a regional labour inspector may exempt a workplace wholly or partly; section 8D of the Law, under which the Regulations are made, does not apply to gas plants (workplaces whose main business is producing, filling, storing, transporting or marketing gas).
• Who writes it: a certified safety officer who has completed approved risk management training, or a person with equivalent qualifications and three years' safety experience approved by the chief labour inspector.
• All employers: a written summary of job risks for each worker by the first working day, updated when the job changes (Training Regulations 1999).

What the programme must contain

The 2013 Regulations define risk terms in line with international usage (hazard, risk, risk assessment, acceptable risk) and require a programme with these chapters, adapted to the workplace:

The occupier approves the programme by signature after consulting the safety committee, allocates resources, documents the review of its implementation and keeps an up-to-date copy where every worker can read it. Where a safety officer is employed but does not write the programme, the officer must co-ordinate and sign that it has been read. On construction sites a programme prepared under these Regulations satisfies an inspector's demand for a site safety organisation plan. A regional labour inspector may exempt a workplace, wholly or in part, if the level of risk justifies it.

How the yearly review works in practice

Example: A 70-worker food factory introduces an ammonia refrigeration upgrade in March. The safety officer adds the new installation to the hazard register, assesses the leak and exposure scenarios, records the controls chosen (detection, ventilation, emergency procedure, training), names the manager who accepts the residual risk and the person responsible for each action with dates, and updates the annual training and drill plans. The board approves the revised programme after the safety committee has discussed it. At the end of the year the occupier documents how much of the plan was implemented and the programme is updated again for the following year.

Even without a change, the "annual plan" items (monitoring, audits, inspections, training) have to be renewed each year, so in practice the programme is a living annual document rather than a one-off risk assessment.

Smaller workplaces

A workplace below the thresholds is not obliged to keep the full programme unless ordered, but its duties still assume knowledge of the risks: each worker must receive a written summary of risks in Hebrew and a language the worker understands, training at least yearly, labelling of hazardous substances and equipment, and exposure measurements where harmful agents are used. A short documented risk assessment is the practical way to meet these duties.

Common mistakes

• Treating it as a one-off document. The programme must be updated every year and after changes.
• Letting any consultant prepare it. The preparer must hold a safety officer certificate with approved risk management training, or an approved equivalent.
• Skipping the acceptable-risk definition. The policy chapter must define the level of risk the occupier accepts.

Related on excodex

• Occupational safety and health in Israel: law, authorities and employer duties
• What OSH training must employers provide to workers in Israel?
• Workplace risk assessment: process, team, records and review
• Must an employer in Israel appoint a safety professional or an occupational physician?

Standards and further reading

• Labour Inspection (Organisation) Regulations (Safety Management Programme) 5773-2013 (תקנות ארגון הפיקוח על העבודה (תכנית לניהול הבטיחות), התשע"ג-2013).
• Labour Inspection (Organisation) Regulations (Provision of Information and Training of Workers) 5759-1999, regulation 7.
• Labour Inspection (Organisation) Law 5714-1954, section 8D, official gazette text, Knesset, as amended.
• ISO 45001, Occupational health and safety management systems, requirements with guidance for use (international reference, not mandatory in Israel).

This article is general occupational safety and health information prepared by the excodex editorial team. It does not replace the applicable legislation, standards, manufacturers' instructions or the assessment of a competent OSH professional or occupational physician.