Risk Assessment - Five Steps of The Process

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Risk Assessment
1 Feb 2010 Denise Copeland Last updated: 15 Aug 2014
This article provides clear, concise information and a straightforward guide to risk assessment. It
will help your committee/board to adhere to Principle 2 of the Code of Good Governance:
Responsibilities, legal requirements and obligations.
Contents
Risk assessment - five steps of the process
Step One: identify hazards
Step Two: identify people who might be harmed and how
Step Three: analyse risk
Step Four: records
Step Five: review
Risk assessment - five steps of the process

A risk assessment is a careful examination of what could potentially cause harm to people. It
involves identifying the hazards present and then evaluating the extent of the risk they pose.
By carrying out a risk assessment, it should be easier to assess whether or not enough
precautions have been taken to reduce the potential risk and assess whether or not more controls
are needed to prevent harm.
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Step One: identify hazards

A HAZARD is anything that can cause harm, a RISK is the chance, high or low, that somebody
will be harmed by the hazard.
Draw up a preliminary checklist of all significant hazards (ignore the trivial):
Walk around the workplace, venue, grounds, etc. and look at what could reasonably be
expected to cause harm
Ask employees, volunteers or users for their help in identifying hazards, bearing in mind
that some hazards may seem familiar and some individuals may not be aware that they
can cause harm
Look in the accident book as a guide to risks that individuals have already been exposed
to.
An example of a preliminary checklist for an office:
Hazards and issues to consider
Display screen equipment - Level of use, comfort of staff, training.
Electrical equipment - Visual checks, routine maintenance.
Fire - Means of escape, fire alarm and firefighting, housekeeping, storage, smoking.
Slips, trips, falls - Maintenance, housekeeping, training.
Others - Toilets, temperature, welfare.
Once you have identified the hazards, then you need to look at associated issues that need further
consideration and think about the people who might be harmed.
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Step Two: identify people who might be harmed and how

It is not necessary to identify individuals by name, think about groups of people. Bear in mind
that the following groups are especially at risk:
Young
New employees/volunteers
Pregnant
Inexperienced volunteers/employees
Disabled
Lone workers
Contractors
Maintenance workers
Visitors
The public.
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Step Three: analyse risk

Now that you have identified all the significant hazards, consider how likely it is that each
hazard could cause harm and determine the likelihood and severity of the risk.
Likelihood
High certain or near certain
Low seldom
Severity
Major death, major injury, etc.
Minor all other injuries, illness
Likelihood: rating system
Some people tend to put too much emphasis on the likelihood of a risk; they should also consider
the severity of the risk.
Rating 1 = Low
Rating 2 = Moderate
Rating 3 = High
Severity
The biggest risk is NOT the hazard that may happen most frequently.
Rating 1 = Minor
Rating 2 = Serious
Rating 3 = Major
Calculating risk
Multiply likelihood and severity. For example, the likelihood of office staff getting a paper cut is
moderate but the severity of it would be minor, therefore in order to find the risk rating multiply
2 by 1 which gives you 2.
If it is a high risk, then it is a high priority.
Risk rating and priority
In the example of the paper cut the risk rating is 2 which is a low priority action as can be seen
from the figures below.
1 = No action, low priority
2 = Low priority action
3 and 4 = Medium priority action
6 = High priority
9 = Urgent action
The only value of attributing a number is to help to assess the greatest risk.
Evaluate risk
When evaluating the risk, consider existing precautions in place:
Do they meet the standards set by legal requirements?
Do they comply with industry/ organisation standards?
Do they reduce risk so far as is reasonably possible?

Do controls work in practice, are the procedures being followed?
Do they represent good practice?
Do you provide sufficient information and/or training?
If the risk is not adequately controlled, then draw up an action list of further controls or
precautions needed.
Risk control hierarchy
You should use the following hierarchy to eliminate/minimise risk e.g. if it is not possible to
eliminate the hazard at once, you should reduce the hazard and so on down the hierarchy
Eliminate hazard at source
Reduce hazard at source
Remove person from hazard
Contain hazard by enclosure
Reduce employee exposure
Change systems of work
Personal protective equipment (PPE) - if you cant reduce the risk, protect against it.
Inform other individuals and/or organisations about any risks your work could cause them and
precautions being taken.
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Step Four: records

You are required by law to keep a written record of the risk assessment if you have five
employees or more and tell employees about the findings. However, it is recommended that all
risk assessments should be written down, not only for good practice but also as the insurance
company will ask for it in the event of a claim against your group.
The written risk assessment should be suitable and sufficient if it shows that:
A proper check was made

You asked who might be affected
You dealt with all the obvious significant hazards, taking into account the number of
people who could be involved
The precautions are reasonable and the remaining risk is low.
An example of a basic risk assessment, as taken from the Health and Safety Executives guide to
risk assessment, is attached as a guide for your organisation. Also attached is a more detailed
assessment which may help you with this process.
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Step Five: review

When reviewing the process, you need to consider:
Does it work?
Has it been effective?
Is it up to date?
Circumstances could change...
There could be a situation where one risk may conflict with another risk e.g. a health and safety
precaution may override an equality consideration.
Need to decide/consider:
Who will take action and when
How to inform employees, volunteers, etc.
Effectiveness of control measures
Review for new hazards.
For further information contact:

NICVA Governance and Charity Advice Service
Tel: 028 9087 7777
Email: [email protected]
NICVAs governance and charity advice staff can deliver specialised training on Assessing and
Managing Risk.
The Health and Safety Executive for NI

Tel: 028 9024 3249
Website: www.hseni.gov.uk
The Health and Safety Executive

Website: www.hse.gov.uk
Online governance resources mapped to the principles of the Code of Good Governance.
www.diycommitteeguide.org
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Every effort is made to ensure that the contents of this document are accurate, but the advice
given should not be relied on as a definitive legal statement.
by Denise Copeland
Governance and Charity Advice Manager
[email protected]
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1.

Risk assessment - five steps of the process

Step One: identify hazards

Step Two: identify people who might be harmed and how

Step Three: analyse risk

Step Four: records

Step Five: review

Risk assessment - five steps of the process

Step One: identify hazards

Draw up a preliminary checklist of all significant hazards (ignore the trivial):

An example of a preliminary checklist for an office:

Hazards and issues to consider

Display screen equipment - Level of use, comfort of staff, training.

Electrical equipment - Visual checks, routine maintenance.

Slips, trips, falls - Maintenance, housekeeping, training.

Others - Toilets, temperature, welfare.

Step Two: identify people who might be harmed and how

Step Three: analyse risk

High certain or near certain

Major death, major injury, etc.

Minor all other injuries, illness

Likelihood: rating system

If it is a high risk, then it is a high priority.

Risk rating and priority

1 = No action, low priority

2 = Low priority action

3 and 4 = Medium priority action

When evaluating the risk, consider existing precautions in place:

Do they meet the standards set by legal requirements?

Do they comply with industry/ organisation standards?

Do they reduce risk so far as is reasonably possible?

Do they represent good practice?

Do you provide sufficient information and/or training?

Risk control hierarchy

Eliminate hazard at source

Reduce hazard at source

Remove person from hazard

Contain hazard by enclosure

Reduce employee exposure

Change systems of work

Step Four: records

A proper check was made

The precautions are reasonable and the remaining risk is low.

Step Five: review

Has it been effective?

Circumstances could change...

Who will take action and when

How to inform employees, volunteers, etc.

Effectiveness of control measures

Review for new hazards.

For further information contact:

The Health and Safety Executive for NI

The Health and Safety Executive

Governance and Charity Advice Manager

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