Risk Assessment

A Risk Assessment is careful and systematic review of the workplace and activities undertake by your business; looking at what could go wrong and how and the harm caused. Thereafter deciding on suitable control measures to prevent accidents happening. The Risk Assessment process should include the hierarchy of risk control approach to eliminate risk or suitably reduce the consequences. 

So why conduct a risk assessment

It is an absolute requirement for UK businesses to assess all significant risk in the workplace, also when there are 5 or more employees the assessment should be recorded.

Assessment risk is a fundamental management requirement for any business. If hazards are not known you cannot take action to control them. Therefore, you are effectively putting yourself, employees, visiting contractors, customers, members of the public and your organisations reputation at risk. 

Employers and the self-employed should make suitable arrangements to reduce risk so far as is 'reasonably practicable'. 'Reasonably practicable' is a legal term requiring employers to balance the cost of implementing risk control measures to reduce a risk against the degree of risk presented. When reckoning costs, the time, money & effort required should be proportionalty balanced   

What should be covered by the health and safety risk assessment

This varies depending on what you do as a business, for example a predominantly office based business will have inherently different risks to that of a services, engineering or construction company.

However, the risk assessments must consider everyone who could be affected by whatever activities you undertake. As well as employees, this includes contractors, temporary workers, volunteers and members of the public. Some groups are also considered more vulnerable, such as young workers under the age 18 and new and expectant mothers, in these cases the legislation specifically asks employers to consider the additional risks posed to these groups and put in place additional controls where necessary.

The 5 Steps to Risk Assessment

The risk assessment process consists of a simply examination of what, in your work undertaking, could cause harm to people which includes employees, visitors, the public to name a few, so that you can weigh up whether or not you have taken enough precautions or should do more to prevent harm. 

• Risk Assessment Step 1 – Identify the hazards
  Walk around your workplace and look for what could reasonably be expected to cause harm. Concentrate only on significant hazards, which could result in serious harm or affect several people.
• Risk Assessment Step 2 – Decide who might be harmed and how
  Consider people who may not be in the workplace all the time. Include members of the public, or people you share your workplace with, if there is a chance they could be hurt by your activities.
• Risk Assessment Step 3 – Evaluate the risks and decide on practical precautions
  If there is a significant hazard that needs to be suitably controlled, decide whether the hazard can be got rid of altogether. If not, control the risks so that harm is unlikely. If your work is varied, or if you or your employees move from one site to another, select the reasonably foreseeable hazards and assess the risks from them.
• Risk Assessment Step 4 – Record and implement your findings
  What further action is necessary to control the risk? Write down the more significant hazards, record your most important conclusions and most importantly inform your employees about your findings. Give priority to those risks, which affect large numbers of people and/or could result in serious harm.
• Risk Assessment Step 5 – Review your assessment
  Changes to the workplace will lead to new hazards. Any significant changes should be added to the assessment to take account of the new hazard. Review your assessment regularly, but don't amend it for every trivial change.

Don't overcomplicate the process. In many organisations, the risks are well known and the necessary control measures are easy to apply. 

LOXbrook have a variety of packages and services to assist your organisations in compiling suitable and sufficient health and safety risk assessments that are both cost effective and practical for your particular work environment.