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A risk assessment is nothing more than a careful examination of what in your work could cause harm so you can decide whether enough precautions have been taken prevent people from being harmed. The aim is to ensure that no one gets hurts or becomes ill.
The Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations require that every employer carries out risk assessments. If you employ more than 5 employees your risk assessments must be recorded. Could you talk with confidence and explain how you ensure health, safety and welfare at work to the Local Authority Health & Safety at Work team?
Hazard - anything that can cause harm (e.g. chemicals, electricity, working from ladders etc).
Risk - the chance, high or low, that somebody will be harmed by the hazard.
Once this process has been started the work activities and workplace should be broken into small units and potential hazards identified e.g. workplace transport requires one risk assessment and poor light levels would require another. Specific conditions, such as snow, may require a risk assessment to be undertaken at the time or when conditions change.
We have produced some simple checklist forms to use when developing your risk assessments to identify hazards, those at risk and the control measures that need to be taken within your business. This includes:
|Download risk assessment checklist forms (PDF format)
Remember - risk assessments should be reviewed on a regular basis or as and when situations or conditions change.
The person responsible for completing the risk assessment should sign and date them to validate the information.
For further information contact the |Environmental Health & Licensing Division.