Health and safety: undertaking a risk assessment.

[check] This checklist provides a plan of action for those carrying out a risk assessment in their company or organisation.

The 1999 Control of Substances Hazardous to Health Regulations (COSHH) and the 1999 Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations require every organisation to undertake a risk assessment as part of their Health and Safety management programme. Failure to comply with the legislation can result in fines and/or imprisonment for senior managers or directors. By identifying hazards in the workplace and the likelihood of an accident occurring (the risk), employers can take action to deal with the most pressing problem areas. Reducing accidents in the workplace benefits both employer and employee through the creation of a safer working environment and savings due both to a reduction in lost time and productivity, and fewer accident claims. This checklist does not aim to cover the complex legal issues, for which expert advice should be sought.

Definition

A Health & Safety Risk Assessment is a planned procedure in which all hazards in the workplace are identified and their Risk Potential evaluated. The Risk Potential is a combination of the likelihood (when could an accident happen) with the severity (what could result) if an accident did happen.

Advantages

Risk assessments:

* comply with health and safety legislation

* make accident prevention easier by identifying hazards

* help to improve workforce morale by conveying a "caring" attitude.

Disadvantages

There are no disadvantages to carrying out a risk assessment, but remember that it:

* can require considerable resources (in staff time) to undertake thoroughly

* needs to be updated each time a new piece of equipment or machinery or raw material is introduced, or a process or location changes

Action checklist

1. Risk Assessments

Carrying out of Risk Assessments should be an integral part of any Health & Safety system. They are the basis of providing organisations with a safe and effective working environment. It is a continual process that looks at the Risk Potential of any workplace hazard. All Risk Assessments should be reviewed on a regular basis depending on the level of the Risk Potential and if there have been changes to any aspect of:

* working practices

* machinery location

* new equipment

* the capability of operators

* alterations to the working environment

* alterations to buildings.

You will also need to carry out Fire Risk Assessments. These looks at the organisation's premises and classify what hazards are present, escape methods and fire fighting provisions.

2. Train assessors in identifying risk

Identifying risks in the workplace is not an easy task. Where the individual who is to carry out the risk assessment is not a health and safety officer, it is essential to obtain appropriate training, either from an internal source if available, or from an external agency in order to be sure that the appointed persons are "competent". The suppliers of equipment, machinery or chemicals can be a good source of advice.

It is important to train the assessors in rating the severity of a risk. Examples of hazards should be discussed with the trainee(s) to obtain some degree of standardisation.

3. Identify hazard types

The number of different hazards will vary from place to place, but some of the more common are:

* fire--flammable materials, heat sources, inadequate escape routes, obstructions

* manual handling--lifting or reaching for items, carrying heavy or bulky loads long distances

* damaged electrical equipment or cable, cracked or damaged plugs and sockets, overloaded sockets

* slips, trips and falls--trailing leads, slippery floors, liquid spillage, leaks, inadequate guard rails

* environment--inadequate lighting or ventilation, insufficient space, noise, dust, fumes 

* chemicals--lack of COSHH information, insufficient first aid measures, inadequate storage

* machinery-inadequate or insufficient guards, lack of clear gauges, control labels or emergency stops

* display screen equipment--inadequate workspace or seating, lack of breaks from inputting.

4. Define the scope and coverage of Risk Assessments

You can choose to be strict in the extent of Risk Assessments. However, blanket coverage in most circumstances would be a waste of time and effort. You need to consider which areas and tasks are likely to present the greatest hazards and concentrate on those to begin with. Look at accident books and nearmiss reports; walk around your organisation; talk to management, operators and Health & Safety representatives, draw up a 'hit list' of areas and tasks that may constitute the highest risk. Plan your programme around this list and make this known to the workforce.

Take account of current legislation and ACOPs (Approved Codes Of Practice) when drawing up any guidelines for assessments. Some of the ones to check include:

* Noise at Work Regulations 1989

* Health & Safety (Display Screen Equipment) Regulations 1992

* Manual Handling Operations Regulations 1992

* Personal Protective Equipment at Work Regulations 1992

* Workplace (Fire Precautions) Regulations 1997

* Health & Safety (Young Persons) Regulations 1997

* Control Of Substances Hazardous to Health (COSHH) 1999

* Management of Health & Safety at Work Regulations 1999

* Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations (PUWER) 1999.

5. Record the assessments

Create a document to record the assessments. This should be easy to understand and supported by explanatory notes. Make the text simple and clear, avoiding the temptation to over elaborate both the likelihood and severity ratings. A simple scoring system, such as the one below, would be suitable in the majority of cases:</p> <pre> Likelihood 1 Very unlikely to happen 2 Unlikely to happen 3 50/50 chance of happening 4 More than likely to happen 5 Very likely to happen Severity 1 None or minor, able to resume work after any treatment 2 Unfit for work for less than 3 days 3 Unfit for work for longer than 3 days (RIDDOR reportable) 4 Permanent disability, may never work again 5 Almost certain to result in a fatality </pre> <p>So, for example, Likelihood 1 (roof caving in) and Severity 5 gives a score of 1.5 By combining these scores on a table you will arrive at the Risk Potential

* High--immediate action needed (scores 3.3--3.5, 4.3--4.5, 5.3--5.5)

* Medium--action needed soon (scores 1.5, 2.3--2.5, 3.2, 4.2, 5.1-5.2)

* Low--no action needed now (all other scores).

In the example above, action may be needed if a structural defect has been identified, but no action will be necessary if the roof is in sound condition. A common sense approach is needed.

6. Carry out the assessments

When conducting a Risk Assessment, you first have to assume that there are no control and safety measures in place and score that Risk Potential, then score the potential for the existing controls. Record all the findings on the Risk Assessment record. Decide what action is needed to either eliminate any hazards or reduce them to a more acceptable level.

7. Carry out any action

The level of the second Risk Potential will determine how quickly you need to take any action. In extreme circumstances this may mean stopping a machine or operation until the measures have been put in place. Consider if hazards can be reduced by such measures as:

* using less hazardous material

* changing the environment

* providing warning signs

* giving operators further training

* moving a machine or job

* modifying the machine by installing more guards or emergency stop buttons

* issuing personal protective equipment

* changing the operator.

When changes have been made, carry out a follow up assessment to check that they have proved effective.

8. Continue the programme

Once a Risk Assessment has been carried out you will need to determine how long it will be before it is carried out again. This will depend on the Risk Potential but can also be influenced by the factors listed in section 1. It is important to ensure that all employees are made aware of the Risk Assessments and all findings are incorporated into any Health & Safety training programme. As a measure of success you can evaluate the improvement by the number and type of accidents and near misses before and after carrying out the assessments. Remember that a Risk Assessment programme should be pro-active, not reactive, and properly managed will give long term benefits to every organisation.

Dos and don'ts of undertaking a risk assessment

Do

* Involve everyone on the "shop floor".

* Check the accident or "near-miss" log regularly.

* Ensure assessors are adequately trained.

Don't

* Think of it as a one-off assessment--action must be taken on the results, and reviewed and updated.

* Ignore any risk as being too small.

* Forget to keep written documentation of the assessment.

Useful reading

Health and safety at work, Hammond Suddards Edge London: Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development, 2002

Health and safety law: a modern guide, Jeffry Zindani Welwyn Garden City: EMIS Professional Publishing, 2002

Risk management: ten principles, Jacqueline Jeynes Oxford: Butterworth Heinemann, 2002

Tolley's office health and safety handbook 2003 3rd ed, David Wenham ed Croydon: Butterworths Tolley, 2002

Useful addresses

Health and Safety Executive HSE Information Services, Caerphilly Business Park, Caerphilly, CF83 3GG Tel: [phone] www.hse.gov.uk

Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents, Edgbaston Park, 353 Bristol Road, Birmingham, B5 7ST Tel: [phone] www.rospa.org.uk

Thought starters

* Have you ever been involved in an accident at work?

* Can you think of anything potentially dangerous in your workplace?

* How could you make your workplace safer?