An important step in protecting your workers and your business, as well as complying with the law, is the risk assessment. A risk assessment will help you focus on the risks in your workplace that really matter. As well as identifying the most basic risks, such as spillages or open cupboard drawers, the risk assessment will identify which risks are liable to cause real harm. These risks can then be priortised and specific control measures introduced. The outcome is that your company and your workforce will be protected.
Put simply, a risk assessment is a careful examination of areas in your workplace that could cause harm. Workers and visitors have a right to be protected from harm. An accident can ruin lives and affect your business in many ways, increased insurance, lost output. Legally you are required to assess the risks in your workplace.
There is a five step process in a risk assessment.
• Identify the hazards
• Decide who might be harmed and how,
• Evaluate the risk
• Decide and implement control measures on precautions,
• Record your findings and review your assessment and update it when necessary.
The process does not need to be complicated; the risks are usually known and many controls are easy to apply.
When thinking about your risk assessment, you need to work out how people could be harmed. Familiarity with a workplace means that often hazards are overlooked. With a fresh approach, walk around your workplace and see what could be expected to cause harm. Discuss with your employees what the risks; often they notice hazards that are not immediately obvious. Read manufacturer’s instructions or data sheets, they will spell out potential hazards. Check back in your accident records, these also help to identify the less obvious hazards.
Identify risks and eliminate them
Once the hazards are identified, work out which group of people may be put at risk and identify how they may be harmed, which type of injury or ill health might occur. Some workers have particular requirements, pregnant women, inexperienced workers, cleaners, visitors.
Now that the risks are identified, it has to be decided how to deal with them. The law asks for the majority of risks that you implement risk reduction measures which are “reasonably practicable”. You can do this by risk elimination, segregation, substitution, procedures, training & information and finally providing PPE
A risk assessment that leads to improvements in health and safetypreventing accidents need not cost a lot. Focussed improvements that mea major accidents will be avoided are usually low-cost; costs less and does not impinge on downtime or productivity
No risk assessment will ever be perfect but it should be suitable and sufficient. The risk assessment needs to show that a proper check was made, the correct people consulted, the results noted, suitable improvements made and that the remaining risk reduced. An action plan is a good way to deal with improvements over a period of time.
You will need to review your risk assessment over a period of time, along with your action plan. If there are significant changes to your workplace or working environment then you will need to update your risk assessment and action plan, generally the risk assessment will need to be reviewed every year.
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A company that will carry out a risk assessment Cambridge will be dealing correctly with potential problems in their workplace. The risk assessment Cambridge will lead to an action plan, which needs to be followed to reduce risks. With a risk assessment Cambridge the company will be working within the law and implementing improvements in Health and Safety.
