Risk assessment

A risk assessment is a careful examination of what in your work could cause harm to people so that you can decide whether you have taken enough precautions or should do more to prevent harm.  The important things you need to decide are whether a hazard is significant and whether you have dealt with it by satisfactory precautions so that the risk is as low as possible.    

Hazard means something that can cause harm         

For example, a common office hazard is trailing electrical leads; in a warehouse there might be a potential for foot injuries from heavy stock items being      

Risk is the chance high or low that somebody will be harmed by the hazard   

In the office, the risk would be high from a trailing electrical lead if it crossed one of the main routes in and out of the reception area but low if the lead was in a meeting room used only once a week.   In the warehouse the risk would be high if the heavy items were handled manually but much lower if loads were handled by fork lift trucks and all staff issued with safety footwear.      

The main steps in risk assessment are as follows:   

Identify hazards

• Walk around your workplace and look for significant hazards which could result in harm to several people.  
• Ask your employees/their representative what they think.  
• Look at manufacturers’ instructions and accident and ill-health records.        
    

Who might be harmed and how?

• Think about groups of people doing similar work.
• Pay special attention to vulnerable groups eg young people, people with disabilities, lone workers.
• Don’t forget those who may not be in your workplace all the time eg cleaners, contractors, people you share your workplace with or members of the public who may be harmed by your activities.     
   

Make the risk as small as possible

For the hazards listed, do the existing precautions:

• meet the standards set by legal requirements?  
• comply with a recognized industry standard?  
• represent good practice?  
• reduce risk as far as reasonably practicable?      
    

Have you provided adequate information, instruction or training and adequate systems or procedures? If so, the risks are adequately controlled, but you need to indicate the precautions you have in place.

If risks remain, write an ‘action list’ of what else you need to do, giving priority to higher risks or those which could affect most people. Try to either get rid of the risk or control it so that harm is unlikely.

Record your findings

If you have fewer than five employees, you do not have to write anything down, but it is helpful. If you have more than five employees, you must write down your significant hazards and conclusions and tell your employees about your findings. Keep your written record for future reference .  

Review your assessment and revise if necessary 
 

It is good practice to review your assessment from time to time to make sure that precautions are still working. Set a date for reviewing the assessment.

You can access more information on this topic by clicking on the following link:
http://www.hse.gov.uk