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Every year I take place in the race for life. I have done so for 9 years. At first I began doing it to help support people who live with cancer by raising money.

Over time people close to me started getting cancer, some have even passed away. So now I feel obligated to continue doing the events and raising money for loved ones still here in the hope that they find a cure.

I apologise in advance for my shameless self promotion on the health and safety blogging page.

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Risk assessments are an important part of the health and safety management system.

Regulation 3 of the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999 requires employers to assess the risks to their employees while they are at work. They also need to consider the risks to non-employees such as contractors and the public. The self-employed have a similar duty.

Where there are five or more employees, the significant findings of the assessment must be recorded.

Specific risk assessments must be carried out for young workers, pregnant women and nursing mothers. Sometimes there will be the need to consider other regulations which also require risk assessment, such as those dealing with asbestos, ionising radiation and hazardous chemicals.

Top Tips for Effective Risk Assessment

To do a risk assessment, you need to understand what, in your business, might cause harm and decide whether you are doing enough to prevent that harm. Once you have decided that, you need to identify and prioritise putting in place appropriate and sensible control measures.

Start by carrying out the 5 steps to successful risk assessments:

• Identifying what can harm people in your workplace
• Identifying who might be harmed and how
• Evaluating the risks and deciding on the appropriate controls, taking into account the controls you already have in place
• Recording your risk assessment
• Reviewing and updating your assessment.

Top tips:

• Make sure that those who perform risk assessments have been trained. This is essential if the results are to be meaningful and accurate. Using a team of people to do the assessments – involving managers, staff representatives and those doing the work – is often an effective approach.
• Make sure that the resources used and the level of detail is in proportion with the risk. Trivial risks can be ignored and don’t spend all your time on low-risk issues.
• Be sensible about what you record following risk assessment. Keep records simple and sensible.
• Make sure that those doing the work are involved in the risk assessment and that they know how to protect themselves. This is the true test of whether the assessment process is effective.

Risk assessment is not a paperwork exercise; it’s about protecting your staff.

Review your risk assessment policies and procedures now.

If you need support contact us!

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) defines work-related violence as:

Any incident in which a person is abused, threatened or assaulted in circumstances relating to their work

This can include verbal abuse or threats as well as physical attacks.

In 60% of cases of workplace violence, strangers were the offenders. Among incidents where the offender was known, the offenders were most likely to be clients or a member of the public known through work.

Victims of actual or threatened violence at work said that the offender was under the influence of alcohol in 38% of incidents, and under the influence of drugs in 26% of incidents.

If there is a possibility of your staff suffering from an act of violence then this must be included in your risk assessments, in line with the requirements of the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999.

If there is a risk, you must introduce measures to protect your staff. This may include policies and procedures on violence. You also need to make sure that your staff know what to do if they are faced with violence.

Jobs may need redesigning to minimise the risk of violence. In some cases, you may need to use measures such CCTV monitoring, physical barriers and personal alarms.

Staff who feel threatened at work are likely to be absent on a regular basis and may be stressed. If they are assaulted, you may be faced with an expensive civil claim or even a fine from the Courts following prosecution.

Legal requirements

Health and safety law applies to risks from violence, just as it does to other risks from work. The main pieces of relevant legislation are:

• The Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974 (HSW Act)
  Employers have a legal duty under this Act to ensure, so far as it is reasonably practicable, the health, safety and welfare at work of their employees.
• The Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999
  Employers must consider the risks to employees (including the risk of reasonably foreseeable violence); decide how significant these risks are; decide what to do to prevent or control the risks; and develop a clear management plan to achieve this.
• The Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations 1995 (RIDDOR)
  Employers must notify their enforcing authority in the event of an accident at work to any employee resulting in death, major injury, on incapacity for normal work for three or more days. This includes any act of non-consensual physical violence done to a person at work.
• Safety Representatives and Safety Committees Regulations 1977 (a) and The Health and Safety (Consultation with Employees) Regulations 1996 (b)
  Employers must inform, and consult with, employees in good time on matters relating to their health and safety. Employee representatives, either appointed by recognised trade unions under (a) or elected under (b) may make representations to their employer on matters affecting the health and safety of those they represent.

Contact us if you require any advice!

Mobile elevating work platforms (MEWPs) is a mechanical device used to provide temporary access for people or equipment to inaccessible areas, usually at height. There are distinct types of mechanized access platforms and the individual types may also be known as a “cherry picker” or a “scissor lift”.

All MEWPs have the potential for accidents. In particular, most fatal and serious injuries involving MEWPs arise from:

• Entrapment: operator trapped between part of the basket and a fixed structure, e.g. when manoeuvring in confined overhead areas of steelwork. Operators may become trapped against the platform controls, and if this happens they may not be able to stop the machine running.
• Overturning: the machine may overturn throwing the operator from the basket.
• Falling: an operator may fall from the basket during work activities.
• Collision: the vehicle may collide with pedestrians, overhead cables or nearby vehicles.

Apply these Control Measures to Protect Your Staff

The use of MEWPs is regulated by the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 as well as Regulations 5, 6 & 20 of Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998.

You must identify your MEWP hazards within a risk assessment and make sure that suitable control measures are put in place.

In particular:

• Select the right MEWP for the job and site
• Have a plan for rescuing someone from a MEWP and practice it
• Brief operators on the hazards
• Make sure the MEWP is used on firm flat ground
• Use outriggers and extend them before raising the platform
• Make sure the platform is fitted with guardrails and toe boards
• Provide harnesses to arrest any falls
• Take into account bad weather
• Consider site hazards such as overhead cables
• Make sure the operators are competent
• Inspect and maintain your MEWPs.

MEWPS are a great way of carrying out work at height safely, but only if the risks are properly assessed and precautions put in place.

Contact us if you require assistance.

Definitions of young people and children by age:

• A young person is anyone under 18
• A child is anyone who has not yet reached the official minimum school leaving age.

Under the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999, an employer has a responsibility to ensure that young apprentices employed by them are not exposed to risk due to:

• Lack of experience
• Being unaware of existing or potential risks and/or
• Lack of maturity.

You must consider:

• The layout of the workplace
• The physical, biological and chemical agents they will be exposed to
• How they will handle work equipment
• How the work and processes are organised
• The extent of health and safety training needed
• Risks from particular agents, processes and work.

The Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 applies as well.

Protect the Potential in Your Apprentices – Act Now!

You can use your existing arrangements for assessment and management of risks to your apprentices, but you also need to:

• Take into account the potential lack of physical and psychological capacity of the apprentice
• Pay special attention to exposure to harmful agents such as chemicals, heat, cold or vibration (the effect of which can be accentuated by youth)
• Pay special attention to the apprentice’s experience and training
• Pay special attention to their possible lack of attention
• Consider carefully the role of supervision and ensure the correct level and type is provided

Contact us if you require assistance.