Look around your workplace and think about what may cause harm, these are called hazards. Think about;
Look back at your accident and ill health records as these can help you identify less obvious hazards.
Take account of non-routine operations, such as maintenance, cleaning or changes in production cycles.
Think about hazards to health, such as manual handling, use of chemicals and causes of work-related stress.
For each hazard, think about how employees, contractors, visitors or members of the public might be harmed.
Some workers have particular requirements, for example young workers, migrant workers, new or expectant mothers and people with disabilities.
Talk to workers,
Involve your employees as they will usually have good ideas.
Decide;
• Who might be harmed and how?
• What are you already doing to control the risks?
• What further action you need to take to control the risks?
• Who needs to carry out the action?
• When the action is needed by?
Look at what you’re already doing, and the controls you already have in place. Ask yourself:
Can I get rid of the hazard altogether?
If not, how can I control the risks so that harm is unlikely?
If you need further controls, consider:
Put the controls you have identified in place. You’re not expected to eliminate all risks but you need to do everything ‘reasonably practicable’ to protect people from harm. This means balancing the level of risk against the measures needed to control the real risk in terms of money, time or trouble.
If you employ 5 or more people, you must record your significant findings, including.
You must review the controls you have put in place to make sure they are working. You should also review them if:
Also consider a review if your workers have spotted any problems or there have been any accidents or near misses.
Update your risk assessment record with any changes you make.