Risk Assessment
As part of the Corporate Health and Safety Policy, every employer must by law carry out a risk assessment.
What is a Risk Assessment?
A risk assessment is a "careful examination of what in your work could cause harm to people so that you can weigh up whether you have taken enough precautions or should do more to prevent harm."
How do I carry out a Risk Assessment?
The HSE recommends a 5 step guide to risk assessment - roll over each step for further information.
- Look for potential hazards
A hazard is anything that can cause harm, from a loose piece of carpet to working with toxic chemicals. Hazards can be identified by reviewing your workplace, talking to employees and studying accident records.
- Decide who might be harmed and how
Your responsibility is not only to your employees, but visitors, contractors, cleaners, members of the public etc who may be affected by your workplace activities.
- Evaluate risks and decide whether existing precautions are adequate and whether more should be done
The chance of somebody being harmed by each hazard identified in Step 1should be evaluated, allowing the hazard to classified as high or low risk. Ultimately the employer must try to reduce the risk posed by each hazard, ideally by eliminating the hazard completely, or by reorganising work processes to minimise exposure to the hazard, issuing personal protective equipment to protect against the hazard or other means of minimising the risk of employees being hurt by the hazard.
- Record findings
You must tell your employees of the significant findings of your risk assessment. If you have 5 or more employees, the significant findings of the risk assessment must also be recorded in writing and made available to the workplace.
- Review assessment and revise
The risk assessment should be reviewed periodically to take into account changes to working processes, equipment and machinery, and to ensure that the precautions previously put in place are still effective.
If your general risk assessment identifies hazards covered by other regulations (eg asbestos, lead, noise), then further specific risk assessments may have to be carried out.
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