Risk Assessment
Legal Duties
The Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999 (the Management Regulations) generally make more explicit what employers are required to do to manage health and safety under the Health and Safety at Work Act. Like the Act, they apply to every work activity. The main requirement on employers is to carry out a risk assessment. Employers with five or more employees need to record the significant findings of the risk assessment.
Guidance
What is Risk Assessment?
Hazard Identification and Risk Control are activities that are typically performed at the same time and therefore the combined activity is often referred to simply as Risk Assessment.
Risk Assessment consists of an examination or your work to identify any hazards those things that have the potential to do harm (to persons or property).
Having identified a hazard, it is necessary to assess the level of risk associated with it in other words, the likelihood that the hazard will cause harm and the extent of any harm that could occur.
In assessing the level of risk, it is important to take account of any measures that are already in place to reduce the likelihood and/or the extent of harm caused.
If, after taking into account any existing measures, the level of risk is considered to be unacceptable, additional measures (or precautions) need to be implemented so as to reduce the residual risk to the lowest practicable level.
Risk Assessments can be performed at a number of levels. For example, a General Risk Assessment of a business may identify a number of activities that are potentially hazardous and therefore call for Specific Risk Assessments.
Examples of Specific Risk Assessments might be:
Manual Handling Operations
Use of Display Screen Equipment
Use or storage of Hazardous Chemicals.
In summary, the aim is to do all that is reasonably practicable to prevent ill health, accident or injury to any person or damage to property.
Next Step
How to Assess Risks
There are five steps for conducting risk assessments:
STEP 1 Identify the hazards
STEP 2 Identify the harm that could result from each hazard and the persons who might be affected
STEP 3 Evaluate the levels of risk and decide if existing precautionary measures are adequate or if more are required
STEP 4 Record your findings
STEP 5 Review and, if necessary, revise your assessment whenever there is a significant change that could affect the levels of risk. Dont be overcomplicated. In most cases the hazards and risks are relatively common and it is largely a matter of common sense to identify them. Consequently, with a little training, members of your own staff should be able to undertake most risk assessments and your EDP Consultant is able to advise on anything that is out of the ordinary.
If you are aware of anything that is particularly hazardous or complicated with your activities, people or premises, then you can call on EDP for whatever additional services are required.
Additional Services
EDP consists of the the following divisions:-
Contact Us - for full HSE Compliance and Risk Management in the workplace.
The Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999 (the Management Regulations) generally make more explicit what employers are required to do to manage health and safety under the Health and Safety at Work Act. Like the Act, they apply to every work activity. The main requirement on employers is to carry out a risk assessment. Employers with five or more employees need to record the significant findings of the risk assessment.
Guidance
What is Risk Assessment?
Hazard Identification and Risk Control are activities that are typically performed at the same time and therefore the combined activity is often referred to simply as Risk Assessment.
Risk Assessment consists of an examination or your work to identify any hazards those things that have the potential to do harm (to persons or property).
Having identified a hazard, it is necessary to assess the level of risk associated with it in other words, the likelihood that the hazard will cause harm and the extent of any harm that could occur.
In assessing the level of risk, it is important to take account of any measures that are already in place to reduce the likelihood and/or the extent of harm caused.
If, after taking into account any existing measures, the level of risk is considered to be unacceptable, additional measures (or precautions) need to be implemented so as to reduce the residual risk to the lowest practicable level.
Risk Assessments can be performed at a number of levels. For example, a General Risk Assessment of a business may identify a number of activities that are potentially hazardous and therefore call for Specific Risk Assessments.
Examples of Specific Risk Assessments might be:
In summary, the aim is to do all that is reasonably practicable to prevent ill health, accident or injury to any person or damage to property.
Next Step
How to Assess Risks
There are five steps for conducting risk assessments:
If you are aware of anything that is particularly hazardous or complicated with your activities, people or premises, then you can call on EDP for whatever additional services are required.
Additional Services
EDP consists of the the following divisions:-
Contact Us - for full HSE Compliance and Risk Management in the workplace.