Risk Management
As an employer, you’re required by law to protect your employees, and others, from harm. Under the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999, the minimum you must do is:
- Identify what could cause injury or illness in your business (hazards)
- Decide how likely it is that someone could be harmed and how seriously (the risk)
- Take action to eliminate the hazard, or if this isn't possible, control the risk
Assessing risk is just one part of the overall process used to control risks in your workplace.
How to do a risk assessment: three basic steps
Step 1 – Identify Hazards
Looking and identifying “hazards” that are at your workplace. A hazard is simply anything that can cause harm to you or your employees. “Where can people come to harm?”. What you are looking for are the situations where people can be harmed (e.g. hazards such as vehicles, machinery, manual handling etc.). This can include people other than your employees. Look at how you get around your workplace, is there safe access? Look at how you carry out the work, how can you be harmed? There is no need to consider every minor hazard or risk which we accept as part of our everyday lives.
Step 2 – Determine the Level of Risk
Next look at the level of risk. Some hazards will be high risk, e.g. working at height, working in confined space. Other hazards will be a lower risk, because the harm may be less severe. “What is the chance people will be harmed and how serious could the injury be?” Decide who could be harmed and how and give consideration to vulnerable groups (e.g. young persons, the elderly, pregnant employees, shift workers etc).
Step 3 – Put in Controls and Inform
Decide what you are going to do to make the task or activity safer for you; your employees and other people around you. Implement the controls and then tell your employees! Your control measures are the most significant part of the risk assessment, as they set out the steps that must be followed to protect people. Some control measures may already be in place. You will need to decide if additional measures are needed. Risk assessment will help you prioritise the high risk hazards first.
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