RISK ASSESSMENT

HSE, in the publication HSG(65) Successful Health and Safety Management, states that the aim
of the planning process is to minimize risks. Risk assessment methods are used to decide on
priorities and to set objectives for eliminating hazards and reducing risks
5.2 Legal aspects of risk assessment
The general duties of employers to their employees in section 2 of the Health and Safety at Work
Act 1974 imply the need for risk assessment. The following requirements are laid down in those
regulations: the risk assessment shall be suitable and sufficient and cover both employees and
non-employees affected by the employers undertaking.
A suitable and sufficient risk assessment should: identify the significant risks and ignore the
trivial ones, identify and prioritize the measures required to comply with any relevant statutory
provisions, remain appropriate to the nature of the work and valid over a reasonable period of
time.
5.3 Forms of risk assessment
There are two basic forms of risk assessment.
A quantitative risk assessment attempts to measure the risk by relating the probability of the risk
occurring to the possible severity of the outcome and then giving the risk a numerical value. This
method of risk assessment is used in situations where a malfunction could be very serious (e.g.
aircraft design and maintenance or the petrochemical industry).
The more common form of risk assessment is the qualitative assessment which is based purely
on personal judgement and is normally defined as high, medium or low.
5.4 Some definitions

a. Hazard and risk

A hazard is the potential of a substance, activity or process to cause harm. A risk is the
likelihood of a substance, activity or process to cause harm. It is very important to distinguish
between a hazard and a risk the two terms are often confused and activities often called high
risk are in fact high hazard.
b. Occupational or work-related ill-health
This is concerned with those illnesses or physical and mental disorders that are either caused
or triggered by workplace activities.
c. Accident
This is defined by the Health and Safety Executive as any unplanned event that results in
injury or ill-health of people, or damage or loss to property, plant, materials or the environment
or a loss of a business opportunity.
d. Near miss
This is any incident that could have resulted in an accident.
e. Dangerous occurrence
This is a near miss which could have led to serious injury or loss of life. Examples include
the collapse of a scaffold or a crane or the failure of any passenger carrying equipment.
5.5 The objectives of risk assessment
The main objective of risk assessment is to determine the measures required by the
organization to comply with relevant health and safety legislation and, thereby, reduce the
level of occupational injuries and ill-health.
Any accident or incidence of ill-health will cause both direct and indirect costs and incur an
insured and an uninsured cost. Direct costs are costs that are directly related to the accident.
They may be insured or uninsured. Indirect costs may be insured (business loss, product or
process liability) or uninsured (loss of good-will, extra overtime payments, accident
investigation time, production delays).
5.6 Accident categories

The principal categories are as follows: contact with moving machinery or material being
machined, struck by moving, flying or falling object, hit by a moving vehicle, struck against
something fixed or stationary, injured while handling, lifting or carrying, slips, trips and falls
on the same level, etc.
5.7 Health risks
Health risks fall into the following four categories: chemical, biological, physical, and
psychological. There are two possible health effects of occupational ill-health. They may be
acute which means that they occur soon after the exposure and are often of short duration,
although in some cases emergency admission to hospital may be required. They may be
chronic which means that the health effects develop with time. It may take several years for
the associated disease to develop and the effects may be slight (mild asthma) or severe
(cancer).
5.8 The management of risk assessment
All aspects of the organization, including health and safety management, need to be covered
by the risk assessment process. This will involve the assessment of risk in areas such as
maintenance procedures, training programmes and supervisory arrangements. Finally, it is
important that the risk assessment team is selected on the basis of its competence to assess
risks in the particular areas under examination in the organization. The team leader or manager
should have health and safety experience and relevant training in risk assessment.
5.9 The risk assessment process
1. Hazardidentification
Hazardidentificationisthecrucialfirststepofriskassessment.Onlysignificanthazards,
whichcouldresultinseriousharmtopeople,shouldbeidentified.Trivialhazardsshould

beignored.Areviewofaccident,incidentandillhealthrecordswillalsohelpwiththe
identification.
2. Personsatrisk
Employeesandcontractorswhoworkfulltimeatthesiteorworkplacearethemost
obviousgroupsatriskanditwillbenecessarycheckthattheyarecompetenttoperform
theirparticulartasks.
3. Evaluationofrisklevel
Duringmostriskassessmentitwillbenotedthatsomeoftherisksposedbythehazard
havealreadybeenaddressedorcontrolled.Thepurposeoftheriskassessment,therefore,
istoreducetheremainingrisk.Thisiscalledtheresidualrisk.
5.10 Risk control measures
In established workplaces, some control of risk will already be in place. The effectiveness of
these controls needs to be assessed so that an estimate of the residual risk may be made. Where
there are existing preventative measures in place, it is important to check that they are working
properly and that everybody affected has a clear understanding of the measures.
5.12 Prioritization of risk control
Theprioritizationoftheimplementationofriskcontrolmeasureswilldependontheriskrating
(high,mediumandlow)butthetimescaleinwhichthemeasuresareintroducedwillnotalways
followtheratings.Itisimportanttomaintainacontinuousprogrammeofriskimprovement
ratherthanslavishlyfollowingapredeterminedprioritylist.
5.13 Record of risk assessment findings
Foranassessmenttobesuitableandsufficientonlythesignificanthazardsandconclusions
needberecorded.Therecordshouldalsoincludedetailsofthegroupsofpeopleaffectedbythe

hazardsandtheexistingcontrolmeasuresandtheireffectiveness.
5.14 Monitoring and review
Asmentionedearlier,theriskcontrolsshouldbereviewedperiodically.Reviewandrevision
maybenecessarywhenconditionschangeasaresultoftheintroductionofnewmachinery,
processesorhazards.Theriskassessmentonlyneedstoberevisedifsignificantchangeshave
takenplacesincethelastassessmentwasdone.