Risk Assessments

How and what

School of Physics
 Risk Assessments

• You have carefully thought out all the angles

• You have done it a hundred times
• It comes naturally to you
• You know what you are doing, it is what you have been
trained to do all your life
• So nothing could possibly go wrong

• Could it ??
Think Again!
No beavers were actually injured
during the creation of this
PowerPoint presentation!
Risk Assessment

“A systematic evaluation of
the work place and/or other
activities which identifies the
hazards present and gives
an estimate of the extent of
the risks involved”
 Risk Assessment – The History

•Always been here

•Concept introduced with the Health
and Safety at Work Act 1974
•Concept expanded upon in the
Management of Health and Safety
Regulations 1992 (1999)
•Integral to all other appropriate
legislation i.e. CoSHH, PPE, Noise etc
So what is the concept of Risk
Assessment?
 Hazard

Anything that
may cause
harm
 Risk
The probability of harm
occurring

Chance of exposure to the hazard

X
Consequences (severity)
Task or Area Based ?
 Area Based

• Normally used for identifying common

hazards in the workplace

• Will also be used to identify TASKS to be

individually risk assessed
 Area Based Example
A risk assessment of administrative areas will lead to the
identification of the following hazards:
Slip, trips and falls
Electrical Safety
Computer workstation hazards
Manual Handling
 Area Based Example
• The common hazard of slips trips and falls can be
dealt with through the School policy.

• The electrical safety will also be School policy with

regard to inspection and PATesting.

• Manual handling and the computer work stations will

have to be risk assessed on a task basis.
 Task Based

• A specific task or job will be risk assessed

• All the hazards associated with the task will be assessed

electrical
biological
chemical
radiation
manual handling
falls from height, etc
5 Steps To Risk
Assessment
 Step One

Identify the
hazards
 Methods Of Identifying
Hazards
• Health & safety audits
• Academic journals
• Research papers
• Consultation with other co-workers
• Accident reports
• Trade organisations
• HSE statistics
 Methods Of Identifying Hazards

• Similar Institutions
• Outside Advice (manufacturers of
equipment and materials)
• Internal Advice (University Safety &
Health Services)
Step Two

Identify who
might be
harmed
 Who Might Be At Risk
•Employees
•Contractors
•Visitors
•General public
•Children
•People who share
the workplace
•Must be people specific
Don’t forget vulnerable groups such as people with
disabilities, pregnant staff and those with little
experience or training.
 Step Three
Evaluate the risks
Risk Analysis
• Hazards and
hazardous situations
are systematically
identified.
• The level of risk
associated with
each hazard
(situation) is
estimated
 Risk Evaluation
• A judgement is made as
to whether the level of
risk is acceptable or
tolerable

• Will include a judgement

on corrective or
preventative measures
Completing the Risk assessment
Organising actions and responsibilities to reduce
the hazards and risks to acceptable levels:
 Elimination of hazard (do I have to do this?)
 Substitution (materials, equipment etc)
 Physical safeguards (machinery guarding, extraction
etc)
 Personal Protective Equipment
 Safe working procedures
 Or any combination of above
Completing the Risk assessment
Writing safe working procedures or
instructions

General procedures may be in local rules

Specific procedures must be included in the

risk assessment
 Evaluating The Risks
-some considerations
• Industry standards
• Legal requirements
• Precautions already taken
• Cost (so far as is reasonably practical)
• Different working conditions i.e. weather
• Numbers of people at risk
• Severity of injury
• Probability
• Length of exposure/frequency
 Step Four

Record your
findings
 Recording the Risk Assessment

The Elements

 A description of the area or task

 The hazards that personnel may be exposed to

 Details of the personnel who may be exposed to the

hazards
 Recording the Risk
Assessment
 Details of which hazards are significant and those
which are acceptable (and why)

 The precautions in place, or to be put in place, to

reduce the significant hazards to acceptable levels

 How the precautions are to be maintained

(management of systems, inspection of physical
precautions etc)
 Recording the Risk
Assessment
• Details of additional risk assessments i.e. hazardous
substances (COSHH)

• Emergency Procedures

• Details of person completing the risk assessment

• Details of person countersigning the risk assessment

• Date, school or group, location details etc.

 Recording the Risk Assessment

Evaluate the risks

• Use the risk matrix on the form

• Estimate the risk before control measures
• Identify control measures to lower the risk
• Estimate the risk after control measures (residual risk)
• Can you lower the risk further? Ideally all LOW
• Not all risks are injury – what about financial loss?
 Recording the Risk Assessment
Consequence
Injury requiring
medical treatment, or
Minor injury or no
Injury requiring first aid with possible long
apparent injury
term negative health
effects

Will probably not

L occur in most Low Low Medium
i circumstances
k
e May occur in some
l Low Medium High
circumstances
i
h
o
Likely to occur in
o
most Medium High High
d
circumstances
 Recording the Risk Assessment

Signatures

• all Low Risk - Principal Investigator (YOU). If not

competent to do so, then also a Competent Person
• any Medium Risk - Principal Investigator and
Competent Person (not the same)
• any High Risk – PI and CP, then referred
to Head of School and Safety Manager
for formal authorisation
 School of Physics Policy

• Use standard School risk assessment form or

Specific RA form for hazards like lasers

• Must be readily available in the laboratory on paper

• Must be appropriately signed

• Review at least annually or on changes

• Copy provided to Head of Group and School
Safety Manager
• Work not covered by a suitable and
sufficient risk assessment can be stopped
by SSA, HoS, SSM, University Safety & Health Services or HSE.
 School of Physics
COSHH / Risk Assessment
Title:

Ref:

Name of Principal Investigator

Description of Task / Activity (including frequency / duration)

Location

Names/Type of Persons Involved / At Risk

Should the personal circumstances (such as pregnancy or any other medical condition) of any person
involved change, this risk assessment MUST be reviewed.

Hazards
Activities, substances, Estimated risk
Hazards identified
machines, tools, etc. (low/medium/high)

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Estimated risk
Precautions required to mitigate risk (relate to numbers above): after
precautions
(low/medium/high)
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.

Emergency Procedures and Contacts

Lone / Out-of-Hours Working

Training Requirements

Access Restrictions / Signage

Storage

Waste Disposal

Principal Investigator (in all cases) Signature Date

Competent Person (medium / high risk) Signature Date

Date for Next Assessment (must be reviewed within 12 months)

 Step Five

Review the assessment

 Legal Summary

The Management of Health and Safety at Work

Regulations 1999 (amended 2006)

Risk assessment
3.—(1) Every employer shall make a suitable and sufficient assessment of—

• (a) the risks to the health and safety of his employees to which they are exposed whilst
they are at work; and
• (b) the risks to the health and safety of persons not in his employment arising out of or
in connection with the conduct by him of his undertaking,

for the purpose of identifying the measures he needs to take to comply with the requirements
and prohibitions imposed upon him by or under the relevant statutory provisions and by Part
II of the Fire Precautions (Workplace) Regulations 1997.
Risk Assessment Strategy

1. Identify the hazards

2. Evaluate the risks
3. Detail the control measures
required to eliminate or reduce
to risks to acceptable levels
 Summary
Recording the significant findings of the risk
assessment.
 What the task is
 Who is responsible/supervisor
 Where the risk assessment applies, who is affected
 List of hazards
 List of precautions
 Details of safe working procedures
 Emergency procedures
 Reference to other associated risk assessments i.e.
COSHH, manual handling, PPE etc.
 Summary
Organising actions and responsibilities to
reduce the hazards and risks to acceptable
levels:
 Elimination of hazard
 Reduce by substitution (materials, equipment etc)
 Physical safeguards (machinery guarding,
extraction etc)
 Personal Protective Equipment
 Safe working procedures
 Combination of above
 How it can go wrong –
a Case Study

The Health and Safety Executive have

inspected part of the University following
a case of occupational asthma and
issued the University with an
“Improvement Notice” to improve RISK
ASSESSMENTS!!!
 Circumstances of the
Improvement Notice
• Project studying poultry in various locations (approx 12
years)

• Member of staff involved in project never used

respiratory protection or considered exposure to animal
allergens

• Member of staff developed asthma which was later

diagnosed as “occupational asthma” i.e. directly
connected to the work environment
 Circumstances of the
Improvement Notice
• Details reported to the HSE (legal requirement)

• HSE investigated and concluded that the risk

assessment for the work undertaken was not “suitable
and sufficient”
(Reg 3 of The Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999)

and served improvement notices under the HASAW

1974 and COSHH Regs 1999
 Circumstances of the
Improvement Notice
• The risk assessment for the activity did not consider the
possibility of occupational asthma due to exposure to
animal allergens, a condition that was foreseeable

• No respiratory protection was considered or provided

and no lung function tests were ever carried out
(although available)
 Circumstances of the
Improvement Notice
• The HSE concluded that although the person involved
was working on an individual project, the management of
the University should have ensured that appropriate
precautions were taken.

They also concluded that there was no effective risk

management system and that similar hazards may not
have been addressed.
 Other Possible Outcomes

The HSE considered a prosecution,

which would have probably been
successful. In the circumstances
they felt that the willingness of the
University to improve its systems
meant that an “Improvement Notice”
would serve the interest of health
and safety better.
 Examples

• Insured losses
 Compensation claims (UV burns £116k)
(Back Injury £33k)
 Loss of business etc??
• Uninsured losses
 Fines of up to £20k, but last time……….
» Fines (£3k)
» Costs (£7k prosecution, £10k defence)
(£20k) from School resources !
 The “cost” of Discharging the
Notice
The following is a breakdown of the hours spent
discharging the Notice:
 School Safety Advisor – 460 Hours
 Divisional / Area Safety Advisors (6) – 1700 Hours
 School Staff - 2800 Hours

 Total: 4960 Hours or 124 working weeks

 Case Study

• Ordered Conc. Sulphuric acid from a dubious but cheap

supplier
• Arrives on a wooden & damaged pallet, glass
winchesters loosely secured by shrink film.
• Left on loading bay and needs moving to the stores for
safety.
• Pallet appears to be damp in places.