Every business is required by law to perform a risk assessment for the safety of employees and the general public, although you are not expected to eliminate all risk you are expected to take reasonable measures towards minimising the risk. This article is a guide as to how you can attempt to perform a risk assessment.

Understand what a hazard and a risk is; a hazard is a source of danger that could cause harm, for example chemicals, electrical wires, ladders whilst the risk is the likelihood of someone being harmed by these hazards. For example an electrical wire is a hazard; if it is a live wire that if touched could cause an electrical shock then it will be a high risk to people; whilst if it is bound and insulated then it is a low risk hazard. When performing a risk assessment it is necessary to identify all the hazards in the workplace and then deduce what level of risk they pose to employees.

Conduct a walk-around of your workplace with an aim to identify all the hazards, ask employees if they are aware of any hazards. Once the hazards have been identified then they must be controlled to ensure that they do not become high level risks; how you control a hazard can depend entirely on your industry and the separate rules and regulations that may govern safe practise within the workplace.

For each hazard that you identify you must also identify who may be at risk of being harmed, doing this will help you decide on the best way to manage the risk. Experienced and skilled members of staff will be at less danger of the risk compared to an unskilled workers or expectant mothers. Further to this if you will be having non-employees on your premise then you must be extra vigilant in controlling any possible risk as you cannot predict how a member of the public will interact with the risk. In each case, identify how the different people might be harmed, i.e. what type of injury or ill health might occur, for example, ‘shelf stackers may suffer back injury from repeated lifting of boxes’.

Once a hazard has been identified you must decide how to control them; law dictates that you do everything ‘reasonably practical’ to protect people from harm. Although you can control the hazard yourself there are several good practises that a risk assessment specialist can recommend.
When controlling risks try to prevent access to the hazard, use barriers or cones to minimise the amount of interaction there is with it; depending on what type of hazard get a professional to address it to minimise the risk levels; if employees are working near the risk provide them with adequate health and safety training regarding the risk and provide personal protective clothing and equipment if required; and finally provide welfare facilities such as a washing facilities, first aid kits etc.

Ensure that you record the hazard, its level of risk and any steps taken towards minimalising this risk; in particular ensure that all health and safety training is recorded and proof that the employee is aware of the risk is noted. The Health and Safety Executive requires evidence of a risk assessment to be kept by companies; although there is not set template of what a risk assessment should include they do recommend that it does provide evidence that:
• A proper check was made;
• You asked who might be affected;
• You dealt with all the obvious significant hazards, taking into account the number of people who could be involved;
• The precautions are reasonable, and the remaining risk is low; and
• You involved your staff or their representatives in the process.
Once your risk assessment has been successfully compiled and initiated ensure that it is kept updated with any new hazards that may arise and ensure they are all recorded with the appropriate control applied. Every year, or so, the risk assessment should be formally revisited to complete an assessment of the entire building and premises once again.