Controlling the risks in the workplace

As part of managing the health and safety of your business you must control the risks in your workplace. To do this you need to think about what might cause harm to people and decide whether you are taking reasonable steps to prevent that harm. This is known as risk assessment and it is something you are required by law to carry out.
A risk assessment is not about creating huge amounts of paperwork , but rather about identifying sensible measures to control the risks in your workplace. You are probably already taking steps to protect your employees, but your risk assessment will help you decide whether you  have covered all you need to.
Think about how accidents and ill health could happen and concentrate on real risks – those that are most likely and which will cause the most harm.
For some risks, other regulations require particular control measures. Your assessment can help you identify where you need to look at certain risks and these particular control measures in more detail. These control measures do not have to be assessed separately but can be considered as part of, or an extension of, your overall risk assessment.

How to assess the risks in your workplace

• Identify the hazards
• Decide who might be harmed and how
• Evaluate the risks and decide on precautions
• Record your significant findings
• Review your assessment and update if necessary

Many organisations, where you are confident you understand what's involved, can do the assessment themselves. You don't have to be a health and safety expert.
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

Identify the hazards

One of the most important aspects of your risk assessment is accurately identifying the potential hazards in your workplace. A good starting point is to walk around your workplace and think about any hazards. In other words, what is it about the activities, processes or substances used that could injure your employees or harm their health?
When you work in a place everyday it is easy to overlook some hazards, so here are some tips to help you identify the ones that matter:

• Check manufacturers' instructions or data sheets for chemicals and equipment as they can be very helpful in spelling out the hazards and putting them in their true perspective
• Look back at your accident and ill-health records - these often help to identify the less obvious hazards
• Take account of non-routine operations (eg maintenance, cleaning operations or changes in production cycles)
• Remember to think about long-term hazards to health (eg high levels of noise or exposure to harmful substances)

Decide who might be harmed and how

Think how employees (or others who may be present such as contractors or visitors) might be harmed. Ask your employees what they think the hazards are, as they may notice things that are not obvious to you and may have some good ideas on how to control the risks.
For each hazard you need to be clear about who might be harmed; it will help you identify the best way of controlling the risk. That doesn't mean listing everyone by name, but rather identifying groups of people (eg 'people working in the storeroom' or 'passers-by').
Remember:

• some workers have particular requirements, for example new  migrant workers ,  temporary workers, contractors, homeworkers and lone workers Think about people who might not be in the workplace all the time, such as visitors, contractors and maintenance workers
• Take members of the public into account if they could be hurt by your activities
• If you share your workplace with another business, consider how your work affects others and how their work affects you and your workers. Talk to each other and make sure controls are in place
• Ask your workers if there is anyone you may have missed

Contractors

If you have a contractor working for you, then both you and the contractor will have duties under health and safety law. This also applies when a contractor employs subcontractors.
When employing contractors you should:

• select a suitable subcontractor – ensure they have sufficient skills and knowledge to do the job safely and without risks to health and safety
• assess the risks of the work – the level of risk will depend on the nature of the job. Whatever the risk, you will need to consider the health and safety implications  
• do a risk assessment – you and the contractor should be aware of its findings. You should already have a risk assessment for the work activities of your own business. The contractor must assess the risks for the contracted work and then both of you must get together to consider any risks from each other’s work that could affect the health and safety of the workforce or anyone else
• provide information, instruction and training to your employees. You should also provide any information to contractors on the risks from your activities and the controls you have in place. It may also be beneficial to consider, with the contractor, what instruction and training contractors will need
• set up liaison arrangements for co-operation and co-ordination with all those responsible to ensure the health and safety of everyone in the workplace
• decide what you need to do to manage and supervise the work of contractors and agree the nature of the controls before work starts