guidance
An Overview of Risk Assessments There is a need for a sensible and proportionate approach to risk management, in short, a balanced approach – this means ensuring that paperwork is proportionate, does not get in the way of doing the job, and it certainly does not mean risk elimination at all costs – Judith Hackitt, HSE Chair, HSG65 While your risk assessments, planning, information, training and supervision of work need to be both suitable and sufficient, it is not the case that employers must eliminate risk at all costs. The risk assessment should identify a reasonable and proportionate approach to working safely.
What are ‘hazards’ and ‘risks’? A ‘hazard’ is described as the potential to cause harm, while a ‘risk’ is the likelihood that the hazard will cause harm. For example, two men are working at height using identical ladders, the hazard of falling off is the same for both men. However, one ladder is tied at the top and the other is not, therefore the risk of falling from the untied ladder is higher.
What the law says The Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations require all employers, to assess the risks to the health and safety of their employees and anyone else who may be affected by their work activities. This is to identify necessary preventive and protective measures.
Risk Assessment Method The level of detail in a risk assessment should be proportionate to the risk and appropriate to the nature of the work. Insignificant risks can usually be ignored, as can risks arising from routine activities associated with life in general, unless the work activity compounds or significantly alters those risks. Your risk assessment should only include what you could reasonably be expected to know - you are not expected to anticipate unforeseeable risks 1. Describe each task which requires a risk assessment 2. Identify hazards in each task 3. Assess the likelihood and severity of possible resulting injury from each task 4. Identify control measures for each hazard, including necessary protective clothing and equipment 5. Identify responsibilities for carrying out the control measures 6. Identify any training and supervision issues
Employers with five or more employees must record the significant findings of the risk assessment and then arrange to adopt the health and safety measures that follow on from this assessment.
Everyone employed in carrying out the task should be made aware of the hazards and the control measures to be adopted.
Employers are required to provide appropriate health surveillance where the risk assessment shows it is necessary, together with such training to ensure that employees can do their job without risk. They must be given appropriate information so that they understand health and safety matters.
Significant hazards and risks are defined by the HSE as those which will require the contractor to devote extra resources to their management. In other words, hazards such as trailing cables, which every contractor manages every day, do not fall within the category of significant risks.
A health and safety risk assessment is the systematic identification of the hazards that may exist in a workplace, or in the carrying out of a task within that workplace, and the evaluation of the risks associated with those hazards.
Risks, which are significant, are those that are not trivial in nature and can create a real risk to health and safety which any reasonable person would appreciate and would take steps to guard against. What can be considered as “insignificant” will vary from site to site and activity to activity depending on specific circumstances.
The law states that a risk assessment must be ‘suitable and sufficient’, i.e., it should show that: w a proper check was made w you asked who might be affected w you dealt with all the obvious significant risks, considering the number of people who could be involved w the precautions are reasonable, and the remaining risk is low w you involved your workers or their representatives in the process
The significant findings of the risk assessment need to be recorded, a simple statement as to what the risk is and what control measures are required to reduce the risk to an acceptable level and as low as reasonably practicable is all that is normally required. Some hazards, risks and relevant controls may be common to much of the work licensed contractors do. HSE guidance acknowledges that a general risk assessment of these can be useful. In practice, such a
issue 113 · arca & atac news
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