Five Steps to a Risk Assessment

Management of the Health and Safety at Work Regulations -

Section 3 —

(1) Every employer shall make a suitable and sufficient assessment of —

• A. The risks to the health and safety of his employees to which they are exposed whilst they are at work;
• B. The risks to the health and safety of persons not in his employment arising out of or in connection with the conduct by him of his undertaking

(3) Any assessment such as is referred to in paragraph (1) shall be reviewed by the employer or self-employed person who made it if—

• A. There is reason to suspect that it is no longer valid; or
• B. There has been a significant change in the matters to which it relates; and where as a result of any such review changes to an assessment are required, the employer or self-employed person concerned shall make them.

(4) An employer shall not employ a young person unless he has, in relation to risks to the health and safety of young persons, made or reviewed an assessment in accordance with paragraphs (1) and (5).

(5) In making or reviewing the assessment, an employer who employs or is to employ a young person shall take particular account of —

• A. The inexperience, lack of awareness of risks and immaturity of young persons;
• B. The fitting-out and layout of the workplace and the workstation;
• C. The nature, degree and duration of exposure to physical, biological and chemical agents;
• D. The form, range, and use of work equipment and the way in which it is handled; .
• E. The organisation of processes and activities;
• F. The extent of the health and safety training provided or to be provided to young persons
• G. Risks from agents, processes and work listed in the annex to council directive 94/33/ec(1) on the protection of young people at work.

(6) Where the employer employs five or more employees, he shall record—

• A. The significant findings of the assessment; and
• B. Any group of his employees identified by it as being especially at risk.

Indg 163

• Step 1 - Identify the hazards
• Step 2 - Decide who might be harmed and how
• Step 3 - Evaluate the risks and decide on precautions
• Step 4 - Record your findings and implement them
• Step 5 - Review your assessment and update if necessary

When thinking about your risk assessment, remember:

A hazard is anything that may cause harm, such as chemicals, electricity, working from ladders, an open drawer, etc.

The risk is the chance, high or low, that somebody could be harmed by these and other hazards, together with an indication of how serious the harm could be.