The purpose of a risk assessment is to avoid HARM!
Risk assessment is a legal requirement and a moral necessity.
The primary audience for a risk assessment is the operative – not the boss, the manager, or even the client.
Section 3.1 of the Management of Health & Safety at Work Regulations, 1999, stipulates; “Every employer should make a suitable and sufficient assessment of – a) the risks… of his employees to which they are exposed whilst they are at work; and, b) risk… of persons not in his employ arising out of or in connection with the conduct by him of his undertaking.” (https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/1999/3242/regulation/3). This legal directive also applies to the self-employed.
The moral duty is anchored simply on the fact that you should not want those working for you to get hurt!
There are, of course, a few caveats and cautions and I touch on some of those below, but more thorough coverage of those will be for another article: for now let us concentrate on the basics.
WHY?
The law demands it: morality expects it! The purpose of a risk assessment is to prevent HARM!
If it’s lifting, laying, climbing, cleaning or constructing; it needs a risk assessment (commonly called a RAM or RAMS, despite the M/MS standing for “Method Statement” and is not, actually, part of the Risk Assessment – nor a legal requirement. The MS, however, undeniably helps with the preparation of an RA, and so the two often go hand-in-hand and are universally, ubiquitously, connected).
Risk Assessments should be “suitable & sufficient” – do they cover all significant and foreseeable risks from the task (sufficiency) & provide adequate and commensurate control (suitability) to remove or reduce those risks.
WHEN?
All work must be risk assessed. If you employ five or more, you must also provide these assessments as recorded documents. Check that they contain a date, a review date, & ownership by a competent person.
WHERE?
Risk Assessments should be available to, and read by, the operatives undertaking the work. If they are left in a folder in the office, or only ever sent to the client for their audits, then they are not going to be of much use. Make sure the one doing the work has them, reads them & applies them!
HSE: Five Steps to Safety
The HSE (hse.go.uk) offer sound advice and free guidance on risk assessment procedure. They provide the following 5-step model which is:
- Identify hazards
- Who might be harmed & how
- Evaluate risks & decide on precautions
- Record findings & implement them
- Review & update when necessary
As you will notice, most of these steps have two actions to follow through on, so while it is presented as a “5” step model (probably so that each step can be counted on one hand), make sure you do not miss one of those secondary suggestions.
HOW? The HARM Method
I use a simple acronym for the basic needs of a suitable and sufficient Risk Assessment. With the premise that a risk assessment is to be undertaken so as to avoid harm – to either employees or others affected by the works – the acronym follows that framework:
H – Hazard: Identify all relevant & significant hazards. Most hazards can be categorized as either physical, chemical, biological or environmental. Others, however, may be procedural, mechanical, ergonomic, or psychological. Look at the whole process – do a method statement – to find all hazards. accuracy in your hazard identification dictates the accuracy (suitability) of the risk assessment.
A – Assess: Assess the threat of the hazard and to whom. Assessment should include an evaluation, either quantitatively (using numbers) or qualitatively (using words), of the chances (likelihood) of the hazard occurring and the consequences (severity) of the injury or incident (this is the harm). Accuracy in your assessment dictates the quality (sufficiency) of your controls.
R-Remove or Reduce: Where possible, eliminate the risk. Where not, reduce it by implementing suitable and sufficient control measures. Implemented controls must be commensurate with the degree of threat. Use the three Ps: physical controls (such as substitution, the fixing of guards, or the placement of barriers, etc.) as a primary; then procedural (such as permits, instruction & supervision, and training; and finally, consider personal controls (like PPE – always the last-line of defence).
M-Monitor: Continue to monitor and review the three Cs: controls, conditions, and conduct of the task, site and personnel. Things change, you may need to add more! Introduction of new equipment, changing methods, or working in a different area may have more hazards and require a review of the controls in place.
Defining Terms
Some get confused with the terms and often just bunch it all together, but there are specific meanings to each part of the process.
Risk = An evaluation or perception of danger. This is often subjective and increases or decreases dependent on factors such as the individual – their experience or confidence – or the proximity or duration of the task, aside from the actual activity itself.
Hazard = The potential to cause the harm. What is dangerous. Hazards are easy enough to identify. Unlike “risk” there is no subjectivity to it: the action, equipment, situation or circumstance will either hurt you or it wont.
Harm = The injury or damage inflicted. Harm may not just affect a person. Harm may be physical damage done to equipment, the environment, or other elements. The damage may also be to finances, the client-base, or your even reputation.
Evaluation = An assessment of the degree of risk posed. Combining a consideration of the likelihood – the chances – of something “hazardous” happening with the severity – the degree of damage – of that happening, if it should actually happen.
Control Measure = Steps taken (physical, procedural or personal) to either eliminate the hazard (by removal, isolation or substitution) or reduction of the consequences of harm if it should still arise.
4 Quick Checks
Confirm – The risk assessment must be suitable & sufficient: does it cover all significant hazards and control them adequately?
Connect – Talk with those doing the actual task! Make sure they know the risks and they understand the controls. Getting their input when creating a risk assessment is invaluable.
Conduct – If it is not implemented, it is of no use! Ensure that the control measures are practical and are applied. Adequate information and instruction is essential, but even training in the application of those controls might also be required.
Changes – In equipment, site, method, personnel, all might hide new or missed hazards. Review the RA if: there are any changes to the specifications or specifics; there have been any incidents or accidents; or if it has just been a while since you last did the job.
Hazard Identification
Hazard identification is the first step of effective risk assessment. Identifying all significant hazards for a task can, however, be a challenge in itself. It is, nonetheless, the foundation of a suitable & sufficient risk assessment: you can not control what you do not know!
For help with identifying and controlling all of those pesky hazards lurking on site like a clowder of feral cats waiting to unleash moggie mayhem upon your minions, look for my articles: Hazard Cats – part 1&2
Call: 07878 126 442