No workplace is without risks; employers have a duty of care to identify and mitigate hazards that may affect their employees in the workplace. Conducting a risk assessment is quick and easy: here are five steps to completing a thorough risk assessment.
STEP ONE – Identify the hazards
You can identify potential hazards in the workplace by carefully inspecting the work stations in your business, consulting accident and near-miss reports, and by interviewing employees and asking whether they have identified any hazards. You will also need to pay particular attention to any disabled or pregnant staff you have in your care; aspects of the work environment which are not hazardous to most staff may pose a considerable risk to these individuals.
Typical hazards in an office setting include wet floors (either due to spillages in kitchens or bathrooms, or as a result of cleaning) and bad posture as a result of sitting for prolonged periods.
STEP TWO – Identify those at risk
If wet floors are a problem, all staff are likely to be at risk; if the hazard is bad posture, staff who sit at their computers for long periods are most likely to be affected. Staff who regularly engage with demanding clients may be at risk of stress – an emotional hazard.
STEP THREE – Evaluate the risk
Consider how likely it is that the risk will be realised; in the case of staff who sit at computers for long periods, the likelihood of a problem associated with bad posture (such as back or neck ache) occurring is high. Other risks – such as the risk of staff badly burning themselves on the office kettle – are much less likely to happen, but will still need to be mitigated.
STEP FOUR – Devise processes to mitigate risks
Think carefully about how you can reduce your risks. The most effective means of protecting your staff is to eliminate risks entirely; if the problem is a dodgy shelf that is overloaded and likely to fall, get rid of the shelf. If eliminating the risk is not possible, the next best thing is to mitigate it. Help to evade the problem of slipping on wet floors by using appropriate signs to alert staff to the fact that areas are wet; put signs up in recreational areas such as bathrooms and kitchens to remind staff that the water is likely to be hot. Any hazard that can be found in a work area will have an accompanying safety sign.
STEP FIVE – Record your findings and retain for future references
Once you have completed your risk assessment and have identified all the hazards in your environment, the staff they are likely to affect, and how you should endeavour to mitigate them effectively, record your findings and keep them filed for future reference. As well as providing proof that a risk assessment was conducted, the record will also provide a basis for future risk assessments and discussions. Risk assessments must be repeated regularly to ensure that the safety procedures outlined are effective, and that no new risks have cropped up and been missed.
