At PRODEN GROUP, we developed an international project for training and standardizing risk assessments across several food industry plants in North America, within the Preventing area.
How to unify risk assessment criteria and preventive culture in international industrial plants
The objective of the project was not solely technical.
The real need was to ensure that different factories, teams, and managers worked under the same preventive criteria, using a common methodology that allowed for:
- comparing risks between plants
- prioritizing actions with homogeneous criteria
- improving preventive decision-making
- and moving toward a corporate model aligned with ISO 45001
In these types of global industrial organizations, it is common to find risk assessment procedures that are well-developed locally but built independently between production centers.
The result is usually functional at an individual level, although difficult to compare from a global corporate perspective.
👉 The challenge, therefore, was not only documentary or methodological.
It was primarily cultural.
A single preventive language for all plants
The project was developed through intensive on-site workshops conducted directly at the plants, working together with:
- operations managers
- maintenance
- production
- safety and prevention
- factory management
The approach was based on the implementation of a common risk assessment methodology capable of generating:
- consistency between plants
- homogeneous prioritization criteria
- traceability in decision-making
- operational continuity of the system after training
Beyond the tool used, the real value of the project emerged in the interaction between teams and in the construction of a shared preventive language.
👉 The key moment occurs when risk assessment stops being seen as a documentary formality and starts being used as an industrial decision-making tool.
From reactive management to a common preventive culture
One of the most relevant aspects of the project was seeing how different teams and departments began to work under a single vision of risk.
In complex industrial environments, preventive management does not depend solely on procedures or documentation.
It also depends on:
- how risks are identified and prioritized
- how decisions are made
- how operations, maintenance, and prevention are aligned
- and how a common technical criterion is built between plants
👉 Moving from reactive management to a consolidated preventive culture requires more than just methodology.
It requires team involvement and the ability to integrate prevention into daily operations.
Technical training oriented toward team autonomy
The workshop was designed so that local teams could continue using the methodology autonomously once the intervention was completed.
Therefore, the project combined:
- on-site technical training
- practical work on real situations
- methodological alignment between plants
- and operational support during work sessions
In these types of international projects, knowledge transfer and the consolidation of technical criteria are elements as important as the methodology itself.
Risk assessment as a management tool
In many industrial environments, risk assessment continues to be used primarily from a documentary or compliance perspective.
However, when correctly integrated into the organization, it becomes a management tool capable of helping to:
- prioritize investments
- identify critical risks
- improve coordination between departments
- and reinforce the corporate preventive culture
👉 This is precisely where these types of projects provide the greatest value.
Project developed by PRODEN GROUP within the Preventing area
This project was developed by PRODEN GROUP within the Preventing area, specializing in:
- industrial safety
- risk assessment
- preventive culture
- adequacy of machinery
- functional safety
- and international preventive improvement projects
The intervention was carried out jointly with international teams specialized in industrial risk management and cultural transformation in complex production environments.