Risk Assessment
A Risk Assessment is the First Step Toward Workplace Safety
A risk assessment is as simple as taking a look at your workplace to identify things that may cause harm. Once you identify those risks that may cause harm, then you have to evaluate how severe the risk may be and put measures in place to effectively prevent those things from happening. The best way to create and maintain a safe and healthy workplace is to create and implement a risk assessment plan.
Assessments must be done by competent members that have a working knowledge of the workplace. The likely candidates for a risk assessment are supervisors and workers. There are a few general guidelines that should be followed when assessing risks:
-Identify any and all hazards
-Evaluate how likely each hazard will be to cause injury or illness and how severe that risk actually is
-Consider hazards that can happen due to matters beyond your control (i.e. power outage, emergencies)
-Review all available health and safety information about the hazard
-Identify what actions should be taken to eliminate or control the risk
-Monitor to make sure the risk is controlled
-Document any necessary information
Whoever is performing the risk assessment must take into account
-The methods and procedures used in the action
-The actual versus the potential exposure of workers
-What measures and procedures are necessary to control the risk or exposure
The whole point of a risk assessment is to evaluate potential hazards in the workplace. To make certain that all hazards are found, the following steps should be followed:
-Evaluate all aspects of the work being performed
-Take into consideration non-routine activities such as maintenance and repair
-Look at all documentation including accident and injury reports
-Don’t forget to include off-site workers such as at home workers and drivers
-Look at the way the work is being done, who is performing the work and the systems being used
-Take into consideration things that “could” happen in unusual conditions
-Examine risks to the public or visitors
Once the hazards have been determined, the level of risk must then be evaluated. The level of risk can be determined by:
-Reading any and all product information
-Past experience
-Industry codes of practice
-Health and safety material
-Results of testing
-Information about previous injuries and accident reports
Hazards must be prioritized in order to know which actions to take first. You must take into account the percentage of the workforce exposed to the risk, how often employees are exposed to that risk, the degree of harm that will likely occur from the exposure, and how probable it is that an accident may occur.
Your work is not complete just because you have completed a risk assessment and put a safety plan into action. It is always good practice to review your assessment on a regular basis to make certain nothing has changed since the last assessment was done and to make sure your control methods are effective. When you re-evaluate your risk assessment, make sure to keep records of your assessment and any control actions that were taken.