Risk Assessment & Method Statements

 Health & Safety risk assessments are simply a logical way of managing and controlling risks. The best risk assessments are often those that are kept simple and easy to use.

The Health & Safety at Work Act 1974 requires employers to take “reasonably practicable” precautions in various areas to safeguard employees. To do this an assessment of the risk and the steps needed to remove or reduce them needs to be made.

The Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999 requires that employers also have to record significant results and the information based upon risk assessments.

Regulation 3 states:

“Every employer shall make a suitable and sufficient assessment of:

• The risks to the health and safety of his employees to which they are exposed while they are at work
• The risks to the health and safety of persons not in his employment arising out of or in connection with the conduct by him or his undertaking
• For the purposes of identifying the measures he needs to take to comply with the requirements and prohibitions imposed upon him by or under the relevant statutory provisions

The findings must be recorded if five or more are employed.”

A health & safety risk assessment would typically include the following steps:

Identification of hazard
Evaluate what the likelihood of the hazard occurring is (known as risk)
Decide who is at risk and in what way
Deciding what precautions can be taken to reduce or eliminate this risk
Introducing those preventive measures
Record findings and inform colleagues
Reviewing the assessment periodically revising it if necessary

AF Consulting are extremely experienced in producing Risk Assessments for organisations on both site and risk specific through  to more generic task orientated assessments. By contacting us you will get a no nonsense response at a realistic price.