Risk Assessments are an essential part of controlling the risks faced by everyone at work. For Employers, the knowledge that you have suitable and sufficient risk assessments in place is comforting, but the responsibility for carrying out risk assessments does not stop there.
Risk Assessments must be reviewed regularly. This is usually annually but this may need to be done more often. e.g. following an accident or when changes to work activities have been made.
This section of our website will help you to understand the risk assessment process from which you should then be able to undertake your own. If you find that you still need some help with risk assessments please do not hesitate to contact us for assistance through any means below.
T: 01352 780098 M: 07968 381445 E: info@affersafety.co.uk
Risk Assessment
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) recommend you use the Five Steps to Risk Assessment method for carrying out risk assessments.
There are other methods however this method is simple and straightforward. The five steps are:-
- Identify the hazards.
- Decide who might be harmed and how.
- Evaluate the risks and decide on precautions.
- Record your findings and implement them.
- Review your risk assessment.
Lets go through these a step at a time:-
Step 1
Identify the hazards
This can be the most difficult part of the process and we recommend that you spend some time on identifying the hazards. If you can’t identify the hazards at this stage you may miss them altogether and your risk assessment might not be complete or suitable and sufficient as the law requires.
We suggest that you involve your workers at this stage. They are ones who do the work and they are more likely to recognise the hazards or dangers they face when carrying out their normal work. However you will need to lead the process and work out how people could be harmed. After all when you work in a place every day it is easy to overlook some hazards.
Remember you should only address those hazards that will cause harm, loss or damage and ignore trivial risks which will only get in the way of the really important hazards and may cloud your judgement and may trivialise the work you are doing and make your risk assessment meaningless.
Step 2
Decide who might be harmed and how
For each hazard you will need to be clear about who might be harmed. This will help you identify the best way of managing the risk. That doesn’t mean listing everyone by name, but rather identifying groups of people (e.g. ‘contractors’, ‘employees’, ‘people working at height’ or ‘passers-by’).
Step 3
Evaluate the risks and decide on precautions
Having spotted the hazards and identified who might be harmed, you then have to decide what to do about the hazards. The law requires you to do everything ‘reasonably practicable’ to protect people from harm. You may be able to work this out for yourself, but the easiest way is to compare what you are doing with good practice.
Some people will quantify the level of risk at this stage which they find is useful when prioritising which areas they need to consider first and the order in which they implement their control measures. If you are unsure about this process or need some assistance we are here to help.
You need to look at what you’re doing already to, consider the controls you already have in place and about how the work is organised. Then you should compare this with the good practice and see if there’s more you should be doing to bring yourself up to standard.
Step 4
Record your findings and implement them
Putting the results of your risk assessment into practice will make a difference when looking after people and your business.
Writing down the results of your risk assessment, and sharing them with your staff, encourages you to do this. If you have fewer than five employees you do not have to write anything down, though it is useful so that you can review it at a later date if, for example, something changes.
When writing down your results, keep it simple remember to keep it simple it allows you to share the findings in a quick and straightforward way.
Step 5
Review your risk assessment and update if necessary
Most workplaces change over time either quickly or at a more sedate pace. But sooner or later, you will either bring in new kit, plant, equipment, substances or procedures that could lead to new hazards. Therefore it makes sense to review what you are doing regularly and on an ongoing basis. Every year or so carry out a formal review of where you are, to make sure you are still improving, or at least not sliding back.
Review your risk assessment again. Ask yourself ‘have there been any changes?’ ‘Are there improvements you still need to make?’ ‘Have your workers spotted a problem?’ ‘Have you learnt anything from accidents or near misses?’ Ensure that your risk assessment stays up to date and current.
It’s too easy to forget about reviewing your risk assessment – until it’s too late and something has gone wrong. We suggest that you not set a review date for this risk assessment now? Put it firmly in your diary as an annual event. If you feel you need assistance with your annual review we are able to help you as our Chartered Safety and Health Practitioners are experts in this field.
However if there is a significant change between reviews don’t wait for the review to come around you must act immediately and check your risk assessment and, where necessary, amend it. If possible, it is best to think about the risk assessment when you’re planning your change – that way you leave yourself more flexibility. If you have had an accident we recommend that you review your risk assessment and any associated method statements or procedures as soon as possible. Again we are able to offer our assistance.
Please do not become over-awed with the prospect of carrying out or reviewing your risk assessments
affersafety is pleased to offer our services to you in this process. Contact our professionals by phoning 01352 780098 or 07968 381445 and we will be delighted to help.
