As part of managing the health and safety of your business, you need to control risks in the workplace. It is your responsibility to think about what can harm your employees and decide what preventative measures to take. This procedure is known as a risk assessment and almost all activities are required to complete it by law. Such a relationship does not require a great deal of paperwork. Instead, it helps you consider all the possible dangers in your work environment and ways to keep people safe. To create a comprehensive risk assessment, you need to go through a series of steps, then write the report.
Steps
Part 1 of 4: Identifying the Dangers
Step 1. Learn the definitions of "danger" and "risk" in the workplace
It is important to know the distinction between these two terms and to use them correctly in your evaluation.
- A danger is anything that can cause harm. For example: chemicals, electricity, an open drawer or working at considerable heights, for example on a ladder.
- A risk is the likelihood that these hazards will cause harm to people. For example: a chemical burn or an electric shock, a fall or injury due to a collision with an open drawer.
Step 2. Walk around the workplace
Think about the dangers you notice while walking. Ask yourself what activities, processes or substances can injure your employees or harm their health?
- Observe all objects, office supplies, and pieces of machinery that may pose hazards. Examine all substances in the workplace, from chemicals to hot coffee. Think about how these substances can hurt employees.
- If you work in the office, look for long cables in hallways or under desks, as well as broken drawers, cabinets, and counters. Examine employee workstation chairs, windows and doors. Look for any dangers in common areas, such as a faulty microwave or an uncovered section of the coffee machine.
- If you work in a mall or warehouse, look for dangerous machinery. Note any objects, such as coat hangers or safety clips that can fall or hit an employee. Look for any dangers in the aisles in the store, such as too narrow shelves or broken sections of the floor.
Step 3. Ask employees if they have noticed any potential dangers
Your employees can help you identify the dangers they have encountered while performing their duties. Email or discuss with them in person, asking for their opinion on potential hazards in the workplace.
Ask a specific question about the dangers that employees believe can cause serious injury, such as slips and trips, fire hazards and falls
Step 4. Check the manufacturer's instructions and substance and equipment datasheets
These information materials help you explain the hazards and evaluate them based on the correct or incorrect use of the equipment.
You will usually find the manufacturer's instructions on the labels of all equipment and substances. You can also check the user manual to find more information on the possible dangers associated with using a substance or a machine
Step 5. View reports on employee accidents and illnesses
These documents help you identify less obvious hazards and all those that have occurred in the past in the workplace.
If you are a manager, you can probably access these reports on the internet or in the company's archive
Step 6. Think about the possible long-term dangers
Hazards of this type are those that impact workers who are exposed to them for a long time.
Examples are exposure to loud noises or hazardous substances for a long time. This category also includes safety risks from repeated use of a piece of equipment, from a lever in a factory to a keyboard in the office
Step 7. Consult a government website on health and safety guidelines
Based on the state you live in, you can access practical guidelines on workplace hazards on government sites. These web pages contain a list of hazards and possible methods to control them, including common tasks such as working at great heights, with chemicals and with machinery.
- In the United States, you can access the government website on health and safety guidelines at this address:
- In Italy, you can access the health and safety section of the Ministry of Labor and Social Policies website at: https://www.lavoro.gov.it/temi-e-priorita/salute-e-sicurezza/ Pages / default.aspx /.
Part 2 of 4: Determining Who Can Be Injured
Step 1. Identify the groups of people at risk
You're creating an overview of all individuals potentially at risk, so avoid listing employees by name. Instead, create a list of groups of people who frequent a setting.
For example, "people who work in the warehouse" or "passers-by on the street"
Step 2. Determine the causes of damage to each group
Next you will need to identify what kind of injuries or illnesses may affect the groups.
- For example: "those who fill the shelves in the warehouse can suffer back injuries due to repeated lifting of heavy loads". Or: "whoever uses the machinery can suffer joint pain due to the repeated use of a lever".
- You can also consider more specific injuries, such as "Workers may be burned by the press" or "Cleaning staff may trip over cables under desks."
- Remember that some workers may have special requirements, such as newly hired and young people, new mothers and pregnant women, as well as people with disabilities.
- You also need to consider housekeepers, visitors, technicians and maintenance personnel who are not always present in the workplace. It is also important to identify potential hazards to the general public or "bystanders".
Step 3. Ask employees who is at risk
If the workplace is divided by many employees or even hundreds, it is important to consult with them and ask who they think is at risk. Think about the impact your work has on other people present and how their work affects your staff.
Ask your staff if you have neglected a specific group when you have identified who is exposed to certain dangers. For example, you may not have thought that cleaning staff have to lift boxes to clean employee desks, or you may not be aware that a certain machine is an acoustic hazard to passersby on the street
Part 3 of 4: Assessing the Risks
Step 1. Determine the likelihood of the hazard occurring in the workplace
Risk is a part of everyday life and even if you are the boss or the manager, you are not expected to be able to completely eliminate all risks. However, you need to make sure you know the main risks and know how to manage them. Consequently, you must take all "reasonably practicable" measures to protect people from harm. This means balancing the level of risk and the measures needed to control it, in terms of money, time or effort.
- Remember that you must not take measures that are considered disproportionate to the level of risk. Don't overdo your rating. You should only include the elements you reasonably need to know, based on common sense. You are not asked to anticipate unpredictable risks.
- For example, the risk of chemical leakage must be taken seriously and considered a serious hazard. However, fixes for smaller risks, such as a stapler injuring an employee or a jar lid hitting someone, are not considered "reasonably practicable." Do what you can to identify hazards big and small, but don't try to consider all possible hazards in the workplace.
Step 2. List the control measures you can apply for each hazard
For example, you may want to provide security equipment to protect your back for those who take care of the warehouse shelves. However, you have to ask yourself: Can I eliminate the danger altogether? Is there a way to rearrange the warehouse so staff don't have to lift the boxes off the ground? If that's not possible, ask yourself: How can I control the risk so that damage is unlikely? Practical solutions include:
- Find a less risky alternative. For example, arrange the boxes on raised platforms or shelves, so that staff have to lift them a shorter distance.
- Prevent access to hazards or organize the workplace to reduce exposure to them. For example, rearrange the warehouse so that the boxes are positioned at a level that does not require staff to lift them.
- Provide protective equipment to employees or educate them on safety practices. For example, safety glasses, back straps and information on how to complete a task safely. You could train warehouse employees to properly lift a box off the ground by bending their knees, without hunching their backs.
- Providing employee welfare facilities, such as infirmaries and showers. For example, if your employees work with chemicals, you should provide them with washroom and infirmary spaces near their workstations.
Step 3. Look for effective and low cost solutions
Improving employee health and safety doesn't necessarily mean spending a lot of company money. Small changes, such as placing a mirror behind a blind spot to prevent vehicle accidents, or organizing a short training course on how to lift objects correctly are all low-cost precautions.
In fact, not taking simple precautions can cost you a lot more in the event of an accident. The safety of your employees should be more important than profits. So, if possible, apply the more expensive solutions when they are the only option. Spending money on prevention is better than having to take care of an injured worker
Step 4. Read the model assessments developed by employers' associations and trade unions
Many of these agencies offer risk assessments for particular activities, such as working at great heights or with chemicals. Search the internet for sites that are dedicated to occupational safety and that focus on specific sectors, such as mining or government.
Try to apply these assessments to your work environment and adapt them if necessary. For example, a model assessment may contain suggestions on how to prevent falls from stairs, or how to make loose cables in the office safer. You can apply those ideas in your risk assessment, based on the specifics of your work environment
Step 5. Ask employees for their opinion
It is important to involve them in the risk assessment process and listen to their suggestions for any precautions. In this way you will be sure that your proposals will work and you will not introduce new dangers into the work environment.
Part 4 of 4: Posting Your Research in an Evaluation
Step 1. Write a simple and easy to follow assessment
You should list the dangers, how they can harm people, and the steps you have taken to control the risks.
- If you have fewer than five employees, you are not required by law to write a risk assessment. However, it is useful to do so, so that you can reread it in the future and update it.
- If you have more than five employees, risk assessment is required by law.
Step 2. Use a template to carry out the evaluation
On the internet you will find many available, customized according to the work environment. In a basic risk assessment it must be demonstrated that:
- Appropriate hazard control has been carried out.
- You asked the staff who may be at risk.
- You have addressed the most obvious and serious dangers, as well as having considered the number of people who might be involved.
- The precautions taken are reasonable and practical.
- The residual risk is low or manageable.
- You got the employees involved in the process.
- If the nature of the work changes often or if the work environment changes and develops, as in a construction site, you must broaden your assessment to all foreseeable risks. This means considering the state of the site where employees will be working, the possible physical dangers of the area, such as fallen trees or rocks.
Step 3. Sort the dangers from the most severe to the least severe
If you identify more than one hazard in your risk assessment, you need to rank them in order of importance. For example, a chemical spill in a factory is probably the most serious risk, while a back injury from lifting a barrel at the same plant is probably a less serious risk.
Hazard classification is usually done on the basis of common sense. Consider the dangers that can lead to serious injuries, such as death, loss of a limb, severe burn or cut. Then, continue down to the least significant risk
Step 4. Identify long-term solutions to risks with the most serious consequences, such as illness and death
You could improve chemical spill prevention for a facility or have a clear evacuation procedure in the event of a leak. You may also want to provide employees with high-quality protective equipment to prevent exposure to chemicals.
- See if you can apply these improvements or fixes quickly, or if you can take temporary fixes, until you can switch to more reliable control systems.
- Remember that the greater the danger, the more reliable and effective the control measures must be.
Step 5. Note if employee training courses are required
In your risk assessment, you can include whether employees should be educated on safety measures, how to properly lift a box off the ground, or how to deal with a chemical spill.
Step 6. Create a Risk Assessment Matrix
Another approach is to use a matrix, which helps you understand how likely a risk is to materialize in your workplace. The matrix will have a column for "Consequences and probabilities", divided into:
- Rare: It can only happen in exceptional circumstances.
- Unlikely: it can happen sometimes.
- Possible: it can happen often.
- Likely: It will probably happen in most cases.
- Almost certain: it is expected that it will almost always happen.
- The upper column will then be divided into the following sections:
- Insignificant: minimal financial loss, no obstacles to production capacity and no loss of image for the company.
- Minor: average financial loss, slight impediment to production capacity and minor impact on the company's image.
- Severe: high financial loss, temporary obstacles to production capacity, modest impact on the image of the company.
- Disastrous: large financial loss, long-lasting obstacles to production capacity, great impact on the image of the company.
- Catastrophic: financial loss critical to the company's future, permanent limitations to production capacity and a disastrous impact on the company's image.
Step 7. Share the risk assessment with your employees
You are not legally required to do this, but it is good professional practice.
Store a paper copy of the risk assessment and keep a digital one on the company's shared server. You need to be able to easily access the document, so that you can update and edit it
Step 8. Regularly review your risk assessment
Few work environments remain unchanged and sooner or later, new equipment, substances and processes will be introduced that can cause new hazards. Review employee work practices daily and update risk assessment accordingly. Ask yourself:
- Have there been any changes?
- Did you learn anything from accidents and dangerous situations?
- Set a date for the risk assessment to be reviewed in one year. If major changes occur in the work environment during the year, update the risk assessment as soon as possible.
