Risk Assessment

Relevant Statutes:

Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999 [MHSWR]

Every Employer shall make a suitable and sufficient assessment of the risks to health and safety-

to his employees
persons not in his employment but who may be affected by his activities
to identify the measures he needs to take to meet his legal obligations.

This requirement for a systematic examination of work activity is required by many sets of regulations and it is not necessary to repeat assessments provided all significant risks are covered.

Definitions

Risk Assessment usually involves identifying the hazards present in any undertaking whether arising from work activities or from other factors such as the layout of the premises, and then evaluating the extent of the risks involved taking into account whatever precautions are already being taken.

Hazard is something quite distinct from risk being anything with the potential to cause harm including methods of work or work organisation.

Risk is the likelihood that the harm from a particular hazard is realised.

Extent of Risk covers the population which might be affected by a risk - the number
of people exposed - and the consequences for them.

Suitable and Sufficient. For a risk assessment to be sufficient it must be capable of identifying the significant risks by focusing on those risks liable to arise because of the work activity. In particular duty holders/employers are expected to familiarise themselves with HSE guidance, the trade press, supplier manuals etc.

The assessment should enable:

the employer to identify and prioritise the measures needed to comply with
the relevant statutory provisions
be appropriate to the nature of the work
remain valid for a reasonable period of time

Records

Employers must record the significant findings of the assessment and any group identified as being especially at risk. Records should include:

existing, control measures and the extent to which they control the risk
the population which may be affected by these significant risks

Review

Assessments must be reviewed if:

there is reason to suspect it is no longer valid or
there has been a significant change

Co-operation

Where employees of different employers work on the same operation or in the same workplace co-operation between the employers may be required to produce an overall risk assessment (see section on co-operation). Employees are required to co-operate with risk assessment and their views should be sought where appropriate.

Preventative and Protective Measures

The preventative and protective measures that have to be taken depend on the relevant legislation but in deciding upon the measures the following principles should apply:

it is best to avoid the risk if possible by say using a different substance
combat risk at source - remove the risk rather than put up a notice
adapt the work to the individual - design of workplace, avoiding
monotonous tasks
use technology
have a coherent policy for progressively reducing risk give priority to measures which protect the whole work place
educate employees to understand what they need to do including their role in
policy and the health and 'safety culture'
establish a health and safety 'culture' involving the whole organisation.

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