Workplace risk assessments: are yours up to date?
A straightforward way to revisit workplace hazards, decide whether controls still work and involve the people who do the job.
A workplace risk assessment should help an organisation identify hazards and decide what practical controls are needed. It is not just a form to complete once and file away: working conditions, equipment and people can change.
The HSE describes a step-by-step approach: identify hazards, assess the risks, control them, record significant findings where required, and review the controls. The following five steps can help employers identify workplace hazards, assess and control risks, and ensure their arrangements remain effective.
1. Identify hazards
Start by looking at what could cause harm in the work, including equipment, substances, premises and work practices. Consider routine tasks as well as less frequent activities such as maintenance and cleaning. Accident and ill-health records can help reveal less obvious hazards, and workers can explain how jobs are carried out in practice.
Think about everyone who could be affected, including employees, contractors, visitors and members of the public.
2. Assess the risks
For each hazard, decide who might be harmed and how. Consider how likely harm is and how serious it could be, then check whether the existing precautions are adequate.
If more action is needed, decide what should happen, who is responsible and when it should be completed. Prioritise the risks that could cause the most serious harm.
3. Control the risks
Consider first whether the hazard can be removed. If not, decide how to reduce the risk with suitable precautions, such as changing a process or improving how work is organised. Put the measures into practice and check that they work for the people doing the job.
When selecting control measures, consider the hierarchy of control, prioritising the elimination of hazards and collective protective measures over reliance on personal protective equipment.
Employers must take appropriate steps to protect people so far as is reasonably practicable. A written assessment is not a substitute for effective controls in the workplace.
4. Record the significant findings
If an employer has five or more employees, including managers, the significant findings of the risk assessment must be recorded. These include the hazards, who might be harmed and how, and what is being done to control the risks. The record should also identify any group of employees found to be especially at risk.
Employers with fewer than five employees must still assess risks, although this general duty does not require them to write down the findings. A written record can still help explain decisions, share arrangements and track actions.
5. Review the assessment and controls
Check that the controls remain effective. Under regulation 3 of the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999, an assessment must be reviewed if there is reason to suspect it is no longer valid or there has been a significant change in the matters it covers. Make any changes identified by the review.
HSE also advises reviewing controls when they may no longer be effective, when workplace changes could create new risks, or after workers raise concerns, accidents or near misses. Update the assessment record when arrangements change and communicate relevant updates to the people affected.
Read the HSE guidance on steps needed to manage risk for more detail. This article is general information; it does not replace a competent assessment of your workplace.
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