Practical risk assessment

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Practical risk assessment

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Introduction

There are no fixed rules about how the risk assessment process should occur.  However, there are some general principles that should be followed to ensure that it is suitable and sufficient.  The assessment carried out will very much depend on the nature of the work and the type and extent of the hazards and risks.  

The process needs to be very practical and involve management and all employees, whether or not advisors or consultants, assist with the process.  Those involved in the risk assessment process have a duty of care to make sure that they and their colleagues do not make errors.  

For simple situations, where only a few hazards exist or the hazards are simple and well known, a suitable and sufficient risk assessment can be a very straight forward process, based on judgement, which requires no specialist skills or complicated techniques.  

When dealing with complex, technical safety systems, more detailed and specialist techniques will need to be applied which actually quantify the levels of risk.

In all cases, specialist advice may be necessary so that the team carrying out the risk assessment thinks as widely as possible in terms of the potential hazards, some of which they may be unfamiliar with.  The preparation of the team carrying out the risk assessment is very important to ensure that they do not just ignore events because of their lack of personal experience.  

In most cases, several risk assessments will need to be carried out for a particular workplace or activity.  This approach will need to be carefully structured to ensure that all potential hazards are considered.  A different team using different techniques will approach the assessment of a workplace from different points of view, to ensure a complete assessment.  The use of a systematic approach to risk assessment makes sure that all similar risk assessments produce the same results.

      Principles for conducting risk assessments

      The following general principles should be followed when conducting risk assessments:

            1. It should be ensured that all the relevant risks are systematically addressed.

            • The aim is to identify the major risks in the workplace and not to obscure those risks with an excess of information or by concentrating on minor risks.
            • Consider those aspects of the work such as the substances, or equipment used, work process or the work organisation, which have the potential to cause harm.
            • Take into account what risk controls and other measures already exist. The effectiveness of these controls needs to be carefully reviewed.
            • Be systematic in looking at hazards and risks. Remember that risk assessment is a process.
            • It should be ensured that all aspects of the work activity are reviewed.

                        2. The risk assessment should address what actually happens in the workplace during the work activity.

                        • Actual practice may differ from what is supposed to happen in written instructions procedures etc. This is frequently the way risk creeps into an operation unnoticed.
                        • Especially consider non‑routine operations. For example, maintenance operations and changes in methods of work.
                        • Pay attention to interruptions or changes to the workplace (equipment, substances or methods of work and people) as these are a frequent cause of incidents. Changes need to be carefully managed.

                                    3. All employees and those who may be affected must be considered including maintenance staff, security guards, visitors and contractors.

                                    4. The risk assessment should highlight those groups and individuals who may particularly be at risk, such as the young or inexperienced, and those who are required to work alone or with disabilities.

                                    5. The risk assessment process should take into account the existing safety measures and controls.

                                    For example, codes of practice, procedures, guards, special instructions and so on.  These may be adequate to reduce the risk sufficiently so that the law can be complied with, but they may not be working properly.  It is particularly important that this is objectively assessed.

                                          6. The level of detail on a risk assessment should match the level of risk.

                                          The purpose is not to deal with every minor hazard.  A suitable and sufficient risk assessment reflects what employers might reasonably foresee in terms of hazards in their workplaces.

                                                7. In most cases it is better first to make a rough assessment to prioritise the risks.

                                                Then, the second assessment can use more sophisticated techniques to deal with the major risks.