Health and Safety
Executive
Risk assessment: A brief guide to controlling risks in the workplace Page 2 of 5
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).
Visit the HSE website (www.hse.gov.uk) – HSE publishes practical guidance
on hazards and how to control them.
There are some hazards with a recognised risk of harm, for example working at
height, working with chemicals, machinery, and asbestos. Depending on the type
of work you do, there may be other risks that are relevant to your business.
Who might be harmed?
Then 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 may have particular requirements, eg new and young workers,
migrant workers, new or expectant mothers, people with disabilities, temporary
workers, contractors, homeworkers and lone workers (www.hse.gov.uk/
toolbox/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 harmed by your work
activities.
If you share a 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.
Evaluate the risks
Having identified the hazards, you then have to decide how likely it is that harm will
occur, ie the level of risk and what to do about it. Risk is a part of everyday life and
you are not expected to eliminate all risks. What you must do is make sure you
know about the main risks and the things you need to do to manage them
responsibly.
Generally, 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. However, you do not need
to take action if it would be grossly disproportionate to the level of risk.
Your risk assessment should only include what you could reasonably be expected
to know – you are not expected to anticipate unforeseeable risks.