You carry out mini risk assessments all the time in your day to day life, for example when you cross the road, enter an area you are not familiar with, approach a barking dog or walk on a river bank. What you are doing is looking for hazards and in your mind you decide if the risks are low, medium or high. You can then make a decision on whether you approach, protect yourself, ask for help or other actions. To put this in workplace language, you are deciding on the control measures that you need to take.
Risk assessments reduce accidents by formally looking at an area at work, identifying the hazards that are there, then looking at the possible accidents or injury that could take place. By taking this controlled and planned action you can see what could happen and reduce the likelihood accident happening. Risk assessments also help to reduce illness. This is because they can identify chemicals, workplace processes and look at ways to avoid illnesses such as like lung problems caused by exposure to dust, being exposed to chemicals that cause cancer or other illnesses and to reduce exposure to other harmful substances like radiation or even the effects of the sun, assessing how people sit at their desks can help to reduce eye strain and other injuries.
When you risk assess an area you are also looking at previous accidents and incidents which will be used to make your assessment better which in turn reduces accidents and illness. For larger firms, a responsible experienced employee or a competent safety and health adviser should be used.
This person must be familiar with the hazards which are relevant to the workplace under review. This checklist provides a systematic, though not exhaustive, approach to identifying hazards in the workplace. This checklist covers physical hazards, health hazards, chemical hazards, biological agents hazards and human-factor hazards. A template which can be used for carrying out a Risk Assessment is available in the Guidelines on Risk Assessments and Safety Statements.
Employers do not have to use this format in order to comply with section Employers may already have in place some safety measures. The Risk Assessment will tell whether these are adequate. Employers must ensure they have done all that the law requires. All safety and health laws provide guidance on how to assess the risks and establish appropriate safeguards. For example, there are legal requirements on preventing access to dangerous parts of machinery. Then, it must also be ensured that generally accepted industry standards are in place.
However, do not necessarily stop at that, because the law also says that you must do what is reasonably practicable to keep the workplace safe. The real aim is to make all risks small by adding to existing precautions if necessary. Employers need to consider if the hazard can be eliminated altogether or if the job can be changed in any way so as to make it safer and, if not, what safety precautions are necessary to control this risk? The Safety Statement is the place to record the significant findings of the Risk Assessments.
This means writing down the more significant hazards and recording the most important conclusions. Employers should inform employees about their findings. The employer should also state in the Safety Statement where other relevant documentation is retained. The Safety Statement needs to be relevant at all times. Implementing the Safety Statement should be an integral part of everyday operations.
A copy of the Statement or relevant extracts of it must be kept available for inspection at or near every workplace to which it relates. Hence, it may be necessary to revise it whenever there are changes, or when Risk Assessments are carried out and improvements made that have an impact on safety and health.
Such changes may include changes in work processes, organisational structure, equipment or substances used, technical knowledge, and legislation or standards. Changes in the workforce may also have an impact, e. However, it is not necessary to amend the Safety Statement for every trivial change, or for each new job, but if a new job introduces significant new hazards, you need to assess the Risks Assessments and implement the necessary prevention measures.
Planning is the key to ensuring that the safety and health efforts really work. It involves setting objectives, assessing the risks, implementing standards of performance and developing a safety culture.
The employer should record the safety and health plans in the Safety Statement. Such planning should provide for:. Where the in-house expertise is not available, employ the services of an external competent person to help. Check that they are familiar with your work activities, have worked with this sector before and have the ability to assess specific work activities. Involve as many employees as possible in order to encourage them to share ownership of the finished Assessments.
Many of the Authority prepared Codes of Practice, Guidance and Information Sheets contain Risk Assessment templates for specific sectors and can also be used for this purpose. See also the Publications section of this website for further details. Employers are required to do all that is reasonably practicable to minimise the risk of injury or damage to the safety and health of their employees. Employers will have done all that is reasonably practicable if they have:. The Safety Statement must specify the arrangements to be used for consultation with and participation by employees on safety and health matters.
These would include the procedures to facilitate effective co-operation and communication on safety and health matters between the employer and employees. Consultation and participation arrangements and the extent of their usage will depend on the size and complexity of the organisation.
This may range from informal one to one discussions to a more formal safety committee. Consultation areas include:. For more information relating to safety representation and safety consultation, see the FAQs on Safety Representation and Safety Consultation. Employers must also consult safety representatives and others who may be affected by the review. Implementing the Safety Statement should be an integral part of everyday operations and so it must be relevant at all times.
Therefore, it should be revised periodically, at least annually, and whenever significant changes take place, or when Risk Assessments are carried out and improvements are made that have an impact on safety and health. Such changes may include changes in the way work is being carried out, the introduction of new work activities, changes in the organisational structure due to redundancies and to available man power etc.
Employers should bring any changes made to the attention of the safety representatives, employees and any other persons who may be affected by the new measures set out in the Safety Statement. They must be informed about the new findings and of any changes in the required safety and health precautions. Make sure all modifications or improvements required by the new Risk Assessments and Safety Statement review are implemented as soon as possible. A Risk Assessment must always be prepared for that place of work.
However, if 3 or fewer people are employed and a Code of Practice relating to Safety Statements, prepared by the Authority, exists for a sector or work activity, then compliance with that code is sufficient. See section 20 8 of the Act. Codes of Practice have been prepared for several sectors including Construction, Agriculture and Fishing. Please see the Publications section of this website for details. A Safety Statement is your specific programme, in writing, for safeguarding the health and safety of your employees.
The Authority does not supply Safety Statements. The guidelines and tools prepared by the Authority on preparing Safety Statements and carrying out Risk Assessments can be used for this purpose.
These guidelines are designed to help employers or the self-employed to manage safety and health in the workplace. Please see the Codes of Practice part of the Publications section of this website for details. Different workplace settings will identify differing hazards, dependent on the work activities being carried out. Therefore, assorted control measures shall be considered for the various risks in such workplaces, e.
Slips, trips and falls are the second most common type of accident in most places of work. The risk depends on:. The extent of injury may vary from relatively minor to severe, depending on a variety of factors including the nature of the fall, whether at the level or from a height.
Vehicles in the workplace are a risk to other employees on foot. The risk is a combination of the chance that someone will be struck, together with the likely severity of the injury. This will depend on:. Induction training should always be properly structured and must be attended by all persons to include emergency procedures and first aid procedures.
All training must be documented. If the record does not prove that the person has been adequately trained, it is likely that the claimant will win at any subsequent court case. Ensure that your management and supervisory staff are properly trained and understand what is required of them to manage safety within the business. They will have legal responsibility to do this, whether they like it or not, and coud be personally liable if they do not follow safe procedures and impart safe systems to those to whom they have responsibility.
Similarly, if they report matters to senior management which, because of lack of action, eventually lead to accidents occuring, they will have fulfilled their requirement and responsibility will fall to those managers who failed to take the appropriate action. In case law it is often the failure to take action that is the prosecutable offence. You are required, by law, to consult with employees about health, safety and welfare issues and this can only be proved to have taken place by the keeping of consultation records.
By talking to workers and involving them, safety is brought to the forefront. Consultation is required and does not need to be formal. Simple consultation examples include periodic Team Briefings but it may serve better to organise periodic Safety Committee meetings with representatives from the workforce and managers. These meetings may seem chaotic at first but will soon develop into meaningful discussions and agreements on the best way forward.
Accidents are preventable. By properly training your workers, by re-enforcing that training by good example, by opening dialogue to workers to contribute and listening to their concerns thus moving towards health, safety and welfare improvements, by properly managing risks and the setting of documented safe systems of work that are monitored and supervised you will certainly reduce accidents in the workplace.
To speak to one of our Advice Service Consultants call Undertaking a risk assessment within early years settings, whether in a school, a playgroup, a day nursery or within homes, is very important. Childcare workers who care for children and young people need to be aware of any dangers in the work environment, in order to minimise or prevent accidents and injuries, so risk assessments must be undertaken both indoors and outdoors throughout the day.
These risk assessments do not need to be noted, but childcare workers must be aware of dangers during their time at the setting. It is very important that childcare workers and others such as volunteers and students work as a team in order to ensure that everybody is aware of the risk assessments that have been undertaken, and that they are amended as required.
Early years childcare workers have a duty to help children and young people to examine and challenge risk within boundaries that are safe to the child, but these risks must be assessed first of all. Risk assessment is a method used to prevent accidents and injuries by identifying possible dangers.
By doing so, childcare workers must consider the potential risk, and identify it. Following the risk assessment, the level of the risk must be identified and decisions made with regard to the action required to minimise the risk. It is essential that risk assessments are regularly monitored and reviewed, as changes may occur, for example, new equipment at the setting.
Following the risk assessment, the date for the next assessment should be noted. This may be once a week, once a month, once a term or annually, depending on the size of the setting, the number of new childcare workers, or changes to the environment itself.
When reviewing risk assessments, the following must be considered:. Childcare workers at the setting need to be aware, and have a good knowledge, of the following legislation and policies:. Mae cynnal asesiad risg o fewn lleoliadau blynyddoedd cynnar, boed yn ysgol, yn gylch meithrin, meithrinfa ddydd, neu o fewn cartrefi yn hynod o bwysig.
Yn dilyn asesiad risg, mae angen nodi dyddiad ar gyfer yr asesiad nesaf. Answer: Risk assessments are used to prevent accidents and injuries by identifying possible dangers. Ateb: Mae asesiad risg yn cael ei ddefnyddio i arbed damweiniau ac anafiadau drwy nodi'r peryglon posib. Babies and young children are in danger of harm as they are not aware of the dangers around them.
They are curious, and like to experiment and explore the world around them. Although babies and children need a challenging environment in order to develop and become aware of boundaries, the risk of harm or injury must be managed.
All sorts of accidents and injuries can occur in any sort of setting linked to children and young people. It is essential that childcare workers ensure that the setting is safe, especially if the room is used by members of the public. Early years childcare workers have a duty of care towards each child. It is essential that they follow guidelines, legislation and the setting's policies with regard to keeping the children in their care safe from accidents and injuries.
It is therefore very important to consider this when planning activities for the children. It is good practice to record any likely risks during the planning stage, e.
This must be noted on the risk assessment sheet, and the activity adapted accordingly. If the activity states that the children will need to cut the fruit with a knife, this should be noted on the risk assessment sheet and a plastic knife should be used by the children. Every early years childcare worker has a duty to undertake daily risk assessments of the setting, and to complete risk assessment sheets before introducing any activity that poses a risk to babies and children.
It is essential that the information on the risk assessment sheet is detailed and simple and easy to read. This information should be shared with every other adult associated with the setting colleagues, volunteers, students, visitors.
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