A risk assessment is an important step in protecting your workers and your
business, as well as complying with the law. It helps you focus on the risks that
really matter in your workplace – the ones with the potential to cause real harm. In
many instances, straightforward measures can readily control risks, for example
ensuring spillages are cleaned up promptly so people do not slip, or cupboard
drawers are kept closed to ensure people do not trip. For most, that means
simple, cheap and effective measures to ensure your most valuable asset – your
workforce – is protected.
he law does not expect you to eliminate all risk, but you are required to protect
people as far as ‘reasonably practicable’. This guide tells you how to achieve that
with a minimum of fuss.
This is not the only way to do a risk assessment, there are other methods that
work well, particularly for more complex risks and circumstances. However, we
believe this method is the most straightforward for most organisations.
What is risk assessment?
A risk assessment is simply 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. Workers and others have a right
to be protected from harm caused by a failure to take reasonable control
measures.
Accidents and ill health can ruin lives and affect your business too if output is lost,
machinery is damaged, insurance costs increase or you have to go to court. You
are legally required to assess the risks in your workplace so that you put in place a
plan to control the risks.
How to assess the risks in your workplace?
Follow these five steps:
Step 1
Identify the hazards
Step 2
Decide who might be harmed and how
Step 3
Evaluate the risks and decide on precautions
Step 4
Record your findings and implement them
Step 5
Review your assessment and update if necessary
Don’t overcomplicate the process. In many organisations, the risks are well known
and the necessary control measures are easy to apply. You probably already know
whether, for example, you have employees who move heavy loads and so could
harm their backs, or where people are most likely to slip or trip. If so, check that
you have taken reasonable precautions to avoid injury.
If you run a small organisation and you are confident you understand what’s
involved, you can do the assessment yourself. You don’t have to be a health and
safety expert.
If you work in a larger organisation, you could ask a health and safety advisor to
help you. If you are not confident, get help from someone who is competent. In all
cases, you should make sure that you involve your staff or their representatives in
the process. They will have useful information about how the work is done that will
make your assessment of the risk more thorough and effective. But remember, you
are responsible for seeing that the assessment is carried out properly.
When thinking about your risk assessment, remember:
- a hazard is anything that may cause harm, such as chemicals, electricity, working from ladders, an open drawer etc;
- the risk is the chance, high or low, that somebody could be harmed by these and other hazards, together with an indication of how serious the harm could be.
Step 1
Identify the hazards
First you need to work out how people could be harmed. When you work in a
place every day it is easy to overlook some hazards, so here are some tips to help
you identify the ones that matter:
- Walk around your workplace and look at what could reasonably be expected to cause harm.
- Ask your employees or their representatives what they think. They may have noticed things that are not immediately obvious to you.
- If you are a member of a trade association, contact them. Many produce very helpful guidance.
- Check manufacturers’ instructions or data sheets for chemicals and equipment as they can be very helpful in spelling out the hazards and putting them in their true perspective.
- Have a look back at your accident and ill-health records – these often help to identify the less obvious hazards.
- Remember to think about long-term hazards to health (eg high levels of noise or exposure to harmful substances) as well as safety hazards.
Step 2
Decide who might be harmed and how
For each hazard you need to be clear about who might be harmed; it 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 (eg ‘people working in the storeroom’
or ‘passers-by’).
In each case, identify how they might be harmed, ie what type of injury or ill health
might occur. For example, ‘shelf stackers may suffer back injury from repeated
lifting of boxes’.
Remember:
- some workers have particular requirements, eg new and young workers, new or expectant mothers and people with disabilities may be at particular risk. Extra thought will be needed for some hazards;
- cleaners, visitors, contractors, maintenance workers etc, who may not be in the workplace all the time;
- members of the public, if they could be hurt by your activities;
- if you share your workplace, you will need to think about how your work affects others present, as well as how their work affects your staff – talk to them; and
- ask your staff if they can think of anyone you may have missed.
Step 3
Evaluate the risks and decide on precautions
Having spotted the hazards, you then have to decide what to do about them. The
law requires you to do everything ‘reasonably practicable’ to protect people from
harm. You can work this out for yourself, but the easiest way is to compare what
you are doing with good practice.
So first, look at what you’re already doing, think about what controls you have in
place and how the work is organised. Then compare this with the good practice
and see if there’s more you should be doing to bring yourself up to standard. In
asking yourself this, consider:
- Can I get rid of the hazard altogether?
- If not, how can I control the risks so that harm is unlikely?
When controlling risks, apply the principles below, if possible in the following order:
- try a less risky option (eg switch to using a less hazardous chemical);
- prevent access to the hazard (eg by guarding);
- organise work to reduce exposure to the hazard (eg put barriers between pedestrians and traffic);
- issue personal protective equipment (eg clothing, footwear, goggles etc); and
- provide welfare facilities (eg first aid and washing facilities for removal of contamination).
Improving health and safety need not cost a lot. For instance, placing a mirror on a
dangerous blind corner to help prevent vehicle accidents is a low-cost precaution
considering the risks. Failure to take simple precautions can cost you a lot more if
an accident does happen.
Involve staff, so that you can be sure that what you propose to do will work in
practice and won’t introduce any new hazards.
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, for example ‘Tripping over rubbish:
bins provided, staff instructed, weekly housekeeping checks’, or ‘Fume from
welding: local exhaust ventilation used and regularly checked’.
We do not expect a risk assessment to be perfect, but it must be suitable and
sufficient. You need to be able to show that:
- a proper check was made;
- you asked who might be affected;
- you dealt with all the significant hazards, taking into account the number of people who could be involved;
- the precautions are reasonable, and the remaining risk is low; and
- you involved your staff or their representatives in the process.
There is a template at the end of this leaflet that you can print off and use.
If, like many businesses, you find that there are quite a lot of improvements that
you could make, big and small, don’t try to do everything at once. Make a plan of
action to deal with the most important things first. Health and safety inspectors
acknowledge the efforts of businesses that are clearly trying to make
improvements.
A good plan of action often includes a mixture of different things such as:
- a few cheap or easy improvements that can be done quickly, perhaps as a temporary solution until more reliable controls are in place;
- long-term solutions to those risks most likely to cause accidents or ill health;
- long-term solutions to those risks with the worst potential consequences;
- arrangements for training employees on the main risks that remain and howthey are to be controlled;
- regular checks to make sure that the control measures stay in place; and clear responsibilities – who will lead on what action, and by when.
Remember, prioritise and tackle the most important things first. As you complete
each action, tick it off your plan.
Step 5
Review your risk assessment and update if necessary
Few workplaces stay the same. Sooner or later, you will bring in new equipment,
substances and procedures that could lead to new hazards. It makes sense,
therefore, to review what you are doing on an ongoing basis. Every year or so
formally review where you are, to make sure you are still improving, or at least not
sliding back.
Look at your risk assessment again. 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? Make sure your risk
assessment stays up to date.
When you are running a business it’s all too easy to forget about reviewing your
risk assessment – until something has gone wrong and it’s too late. Why not set a
review date for this risk assessment now? Write it down and note it in your diary as
an annual event.
During the year, if there is a significant change, don’t wait. 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.
Some frequently asked questions
What if the work I do tends to vary a lot, or I (or my employees) move from
one site to another?
Identify the hazards you can reasonably expect and assess the risks from them.
This general assessment should stand you in good stead for the majority of your
work. Where you do take on work or a new site that is different, cover any new or
different hazards with a specific assessment. You do not have to start from scratch
each time.
What if I share a workplace?
Tell the other employers and self-employed people there about any risks your work
could cause them, and what precautions you are taking. Also, think about the risks
to your own workforce from those who share your workplace.
Do my employees have responsibilities?
Yes. Employees have legal responsibilities to co-operate with their employer’s
efforts to improve health and safety (eg they must wear protective equipment when
it is provided), and to look out for each other.
What if one of my employee’s circumstances change?
You’ll need to look again at the risk assessment. You are required to carry out a
specific risk assessment for new or expectant mothers, as some tasks (heavy lifting
or work with chemicals for example) may not be appropriate. If an employee
develops a disability then you are required to make reasonable adjustments.
People returning to work following major surgery may also have particular
requirements. If you put your mind to it, you can almost always find a way forward
that works for you and your employees.
What if I have already assessed some of the risks?
If, for example, you use hazardous chemicals and you have already assessed the
risks to health and the precautions you need to take under the Control of
Substances Hazardous to Health Regulations (COSHH), you can consider them
‘checked’ and move on.
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