Risk Assessments

Risk assessments are a core requirement of modern Health and Safety legislation, including but
not limited to, The Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations, and specific
regulations for manual handling, work at height, hazardous substances, noise, vibration, work
equipment, electricity etc. Regulations require “suitable and sufficient” risk assessments and
this can be achieved by assessing the hazards associated with specific job tasks. As an integral
part of a health and safety management system they can mitigate any civil claim and/or criminal
investigation that may result from an accident or ill health.

MINIMUM STANDARDS
A company policy and methodology for undertaking risk assessments will be defined. This
method should identify all significant job tasks requiring assessment and the need for technical
assessments such as noise, vibration and hazardous substances. Task specific assessments
can be supported by assessments of working areas such as the office or perhaps the vehicle
yard. Complex process and machinery hazards may require the use of more sophisticated
techniques. Once the methodology is determined the policy should:
• Incorporate a written statement of intent.
• Ensure assessments are recorded. Consider standard templates for consistency.
• Define responsibilities for completing assessments. A team approach should be
adopted involving managers, supervisors, employees and health and safety
representatives.
• Define the strategy and methodology for assessing hazards and determining the risk,
including consideration of likelihood, severity and accident history.
• Commit to implementation of corrective actions identified by the assessment with
controls requiring capital expenditure suitably planned and agreed.
• Ensure safe operating procedures for job tasks are recorded and embedded within any
health and safety training, maintenance and housekeeping procedures.
• As risk assessments are updated, ensure a copy of the original is kept on record.
• As with all records they need to be archived in an identifiable and retrievable format.
The assessment of each job task and work environment should follow principles within the HSE’s
‘Five steps to risk assessment’.
Step 1 Identify the hazards:
Walk around, ask others, gather guidance, consult manufacturers’ instructions, review accident
and ill health records.
Step 2 Decide who might be harmed and how:
Consider your employees, passers by, cleaners, maintenance workers and more vulnerable
groups e.g. young workers, new or expectant mothers.
Step 3 Evaluate the risk and decide on precautions:
You need to do all that is ‘reasonably practicable’ and compare yourself to good practice for
your industry. A hierarchy of improvement should be followed i.e. elimination, substitution,
engineering or procedural controls including safe systems of work and training that reduce,
isolate or control the risk to the lowest practicable level. PPE should be considered a last resort.
Step 4 Record your findings and implement them:
Write down your assessment and communicate the findings to those affected, prioritise and
implement the additional controls identified.
Step 5 Review your risk assessment and update if necessary:
Risk assessments should be reviewed periodically but at least after any significant change to
the working environment and after an accident or near miss.

GUIDANCE/USEFUL INFORMATION
• Management of Health & Safety at Work Regulations
• HSE: Five steps to Risk Assessment (INDG163) www.hse.gov.uk/pubns/indg163.pdf
• HSE: Sample risk assessments: www.hse.gov.uk/risk/casestudies/index.htm
For further information contact RM@qbe-europe.com
 Dear reader
Thank you for taking the trouble to read this publication.
QBE Risk Management believe that best practice organisations are those where senior individuals
facilitate and engage in the processes of sensible risk management. We make this document available to
all interest parties in an effort to share knowledge and promote good practise.
Our services are available only to clients insured by QBE in Europe. Our insurance products are sold
through insurance brokers. We cannot offer advisory services to anyone else, however we would be
delighted to hear if you have found this document useful or believe there are risk management issues that
do not receive appropriate attention in the media.
Regards
QBE Risk Management Team
email: RM@uk.qbe.com
www.QBEeurope.com/RM

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