Risk Assessment Risk Control December 2014 Dr Emer
Risk Assessment & Risk Control December 2014 Dr Emer Bell Integrated Risk Solutions
HOW TO DO IT RIGHT HOW TO DO IT WELL
Risk assessment is about…… • identifying sensible measures to control the risks in your workplace. • Your risk assessment will help you decide whether you have covered all you need to. – That you have done enough.
Definitions • Hazard – any thing, any substance, any activity that could cause harm • Risk assessment – a combination of the likelihood that someone will be hurt and the severity of the injury or ill health
Risk assessment is a physical & mental activity 1. Pick a room, work area or lab. 2. Identify all the equipment, physical agents (noise), chemical agents, biological agents, operations, in the room or conducted in the room. You do need to walk around, preferably with someone else.
• Identify who is or may be at risk – don’t forget cleaners, maintenance staff.
Identify the hazards • For each of the items of equipment, agents or operations listed, identify all the potential hazards. – Electricity – Manual handling – Working at heights – Fire – Slips
Set out what controls are in place already • For each hazard say what’s being done already to make it safer. – e. g. for Fire you would note that extinguishers are in place, fire drills are held
Consider the severity of harm
Slight harm • Nuisance and irritation (e. g. headaches); temporary ill-health leading to discomfort (e. g. diarrhoea). • Superficial injuries; minor cuts and bruises; eye irritation from dust.
Moderate harm • Partial hearing loss; dermatitis; asthma; work-related upper limb disorders; ill health leading to permanent minor disability. • Lacerations; burns; concussion; serious sprains; minor fractures.
Extreme harm • Acute fatal diseases; severe life shortening diseases; permanent substantial disability. • Fatal injuries; amputations; multiple injuries; major fractures.
Likelihood of harm • Frequency and duration of an individual’s exposure to the hazard; • Vulnerability of the individual or group (e. g. young or inexperienced personnel, pregnant mothers and those working alone); • Potential failure of services, e. g. electricity and water;
Likelihood of harm • Potential failure of plant and machinery components and safety devices; • Protection given by personal protective equipment (PPE) and whether this is correctly worn when required; • Unsafe acts (unintended errors or intentional violations of procedures)
Very likely • Typically experienced at least once every six months by an individual
Likely • Typically experienced at least once every five years by an individual
Unlikely • Typically experienced once during the working lifetime of an individual
Very unlikely • Less than 1% chance of being experienced by an individual during their working lifetime
Risk assessment • PEMAC Care calculates it for you & colour codes it
Risk level Acceptability: • Guidance on necessary action and timescale.
Very low risk • These risks are considered acceptable. • No further action is necessary other than to ensure that the controls are maintained.
Low risk • No additional controls are required unless they can be implemented at very low cost (in terms of time, money and effort). • Actions to further reduce these risks are assigned low priority. • Arrangements should be made to ensure that the controls are maintained.
Medium risk • Can the risks can be lowered, but the costs should be taken into account. • The measures should be implemented within a defined time period. • Arrangements should be made to ensure that the controls are maintained, particularly if the risk levels are associated with harmful consequences.
High Risk • Substantial efforts should be made to reduce the risk. • Risk reduction measures should be implemented urgently. • It might be necessary to consider suspending or restricting the activity, or to apply interim risk controls.
Very High Risk • These risks are unacceptable. • The work activity should be halted until risk controls are implemented that reduce the risk so that it is no longer very high. • If it is not possible to reduce risk the work should remain prohibited.
General Principles of Prevention • Best approach to deciding on what controls to put in place. • Best approach to prioritising controls. • Have legal backing – part of the Safety Health and Welfare at Work Act
1. Avoid the risk • Simple - If you can get rid of the hazard then people are not exposed to the risks! • You should apply this principle first.
2. Evaluate unavoidable risks • This requires you to undertake risk assessments. If you can’t get rid of a hazard, you must assess it.
3. Combat the risks at source • Here you are trying to deal with the hazard at its root. • If you have a noisy machine, giving staff hearing protection is not dealing with the root of the problem. • If you enclose the machine so that it is not noisy or if you replace the machine with a quieter one, then you are combating the risk at source.
4. Adapt the work to the individual • This is the principle of arranging the workplace and tasks to take into account your employees and to reduce the affect of work on health.
5. Adapt your work place in line with technical progress • Safer systems of work are always being developed. You must keep up to date with new systems, so that you can put them into use in your workplace.
6. Replace dangerous systems with safer alternatives • This applies to dangerous articles, substances or systems of work. • If you are using a solvent that may be toxic, then you should consider if there is a non-solvent alternative that is safer. • If you can take steps to make it safer, then do it.
7. Develop a prevention policy • This is where you would set out how you are going to protect your employees and other people from the hazards in your workplace
8. Give priority to collective protective measures • Here it is better to put controls in place that protect everyone, rather than for example just handing out personal protective equipment to employees.
9. The giving of appropriate training and instructions • Training or information is required to carry out potentially hazardous tasks safely.
Completed risk assessments • Be sure that the controls are comprehensive and tie in with relevant policies or procedures in the NUI Galway Safety Statement Policy. • You are likely to require supporting documentation in addition to the PEMAC Care records for more complex hazards.
How to ensure controls remain effective • Accountability • Maintenance of equipment • Up to date training and competency • Up to date hazard information • Regular review and consultation
Risk assessment formats • Some hazards require a specific risk assessment format • Manual handling • Chemical agents including carcinogens
• On its own, paperwork never saved anyone. • It is a means to an end, not an end in itself - action is what protects people. • Risk assessments should be fit for purpose and acted upon.
RISK ASSESSMENT IS A PROCESS NOT A DOCUMENT
Areas for improvement • Control measures should tie in with existing policies and procedures. • Risk assessments need to be reviewed and updated.
Areas for improvement • Chemical agents risk assessments must cover all chemicals in a protocol not one at a time. • Risk assessments and the resulting control measures need to be communicated to all
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