Risk assessments sits at the heart of Health and Safety and is a legal requirement, but when do you need to carry one out and how often?
In brief a risk assessment should be carried out…
- Before you start an activity/ task
- Every time you carry out an activity/ task
- When significant changes occur that necessitates the need for new assessment
- Every year, or less or more often
As a starting point we need to consider what the Health and Safety regulations say and then decide when you should carry out a risk assessment at work.
So what is the legal requirement that relates to Risk Assessment?
Under UK law, the term ‘Risk Assessment’ is mentioned in the ‘Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999’.
The regulation states:
Looking at this requirement, it states that every employer / self-employed person needs to assess the risks people are exposed to from their work activities and the risks other people might be exposed to as well.
Therefore, carrying out a risk assessment from an employer’s perspective is a key Health and Safety duty/responsibility – so it’s important to get it right.
Starting out Work Activities
Any work that you undertake as an employer needs to be risk-assessed. To reinforce the point, under the ‘Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999’, the employer must carry out a suitable and sufficient risk assessment of the risks that their employees face and others who could be exposed as a result of their work activities.
If you start an activity without assessing the risks, you are not complying with the requirement and are in breach of the regulation. You have not carried out a suitable and sufficient assessment – because you haven’t done one at all!
Whenever you start a new work activity or process that has not been risk assessed, in which case a risk assessment must be carried out to assess the risk and the controls needed for that activity or process.
An example of what typical risk assessment may look like- There are many different models available.
Ideally the risk assessment should be carried prior to starting the work activity. The HSE Website states the following:
By risk assessing your work properly you can create and develop a suitable and sufficient risk assessment that adequately covers and controls the risk your employees face and others affected by the undertaking. This will lead to a safer working environment and you will also be in compliance with regulatory/ legal requirements of the ‘Management of Health and Safety at Work regulations’.
What if my work activities change?
Work activities can change for a number of reasons due to:
- The activity is carried out in a new environment.
- New technology is introduced.
- New or additional processes are introduced.
- New materials and substances are used.
- Changes to people
Changes to work activities can eliminate hazards/ risks however conversely it can introduce new hazards and risks. If new risks have been introduced into the work activity the present risk assessment will fall short and will no longer be suitable and sufficient until this is addressed and therefore needs to be updated to take account of the new prevailing circumstances.
In short, if the risks change then your risk assessment should change to reflect the new risks introduced.
What if the people carrying out the work change?
If different or groups people become involved this may introduce new people that are at risk. New people may not be aware of the risks associated with the work activity and this needs to be assessed and communicated.
For example, if a young or an inexperienced worker or a disabled or vulnerable person is exposed to risks then the existing risk assessment may not be suitable and sufficient for that person. This may necessitate a new risk assessment be carried out or at least the present one is reviewed for suitability and adequacy.
It is important to note here that HSE Guidance in Step 2 in the 5 steps of risk assessment is to consider who might be harmed and how.
Reviews
So a risk assessment should be carried out before starting an activity or when any changes take place as outlined above.
There can be other factors involved that may mean you need to carry out a new risk assessment- or at least review your current one.
Reasons for this can include:
- Changes in legislation
- Significant changes in the activity/ task
- Improvements anyone has made to the process.
- Problems/ issues arising from the activity/task.
- Accident or near misses that indicates the controls may not be working.
When reviewing risk assessments, there are also other factors to consider:
- As Health and Safety law is always evolving new regulations come into force and old regulations are updated and removed. Changes in Health and Safety regulations occur twice a year and you need to be mindful of new ways of working, tighter controls and new knowledge.
- Continuous near miss incidents may alert you to a problem with the task/ activity. It could be that one the control measures is not working in the manner it was initially proposed. There could a requirement for further training to carry out the work in the right way.
Needless to say, if risk levels change significantly or if the existing risk assessment is no longer suitable and sufficient, then this would necessitate the need for a new risk assessment to be carried out.
This article was written by Kamran Qureshi who is a Chartered Health and Safety Professional and has over 25 years of experience in Construction Health and Safety.