Risk Assessment at Workplace

Sajid Ali Department of environmental sciences

university of Gujrat ,Pakistan.

Outline Introduction DefinitionObjectives5 Steps of Risk AssessmentTable (Example of Risk Assessment)Ranking of RisksPrinciple of CrocodileConclusionReferences

Introduction

Why is it important to carry out a risk assessment???Legal reasons• Carrying out a risk assessment, preparing a safety statement

and health management system, they are required by law.• Health and Safety Authority inspectors visiting workplaces

will want to know how employers are managing safety and health. If they investigate an accident, they will scrutinize the risk assessment and safety statement, and the procedures and work practices in use.

Introduction

Moral and ethical reasons• The process of carrying out a risk assessment, preparing a

safety statement and implementing what you have written down will help employers prevent injuries and ill-health at work. Employers are ethically bound to do all they can to ensure that employees do not suffer illness, a serious accident or death.

Financial reasons• There is considerable evidence, borne out by companies’

practical experiences, that effective safety and health management in the workplace contributes to business success.

Risk Assessment

• A Risk Assessment is a systematic method of looking at work activities, considering what could go wrong, and deciding on suitable control measures to prevent loss, damage or injury in the workplace.

• The Assessment should include the controls required to eliminate, reduce or minimize the risks.

Objectives of Risk Assessment

• Risk Assessments are the fundamental requirement for business. If we don’t know, or appreciate where the risks are, we are putting our self, our employees, our customers and our organization in danger.

• The aim should always be to reduce the risks as much as is 'reasonably practicable'.

Objectives of Risk Assessment

• Risk Assessment should be Systematic

• It should follow a defined and logical methodology.

• It should systematically lead to evidence based conclusions.

Five Steps of Risks Assessment

• Step 1: Identify hazards, i.e. anything that may cause harm.• Step 2: Decide who may be harmed, and how.• Step 3: Assess the risks and take action.• Step 4: Make a record of the findings.• Step 5: Review the risk assessment.

Step 1: Identify hazards, i.e. anything that may cause harm

Employers have a duty to assess the health and safety risks faced by their workers. Your employer must systematically check for possible physical, mental, chemical and biological hazards.

Step 1

This is one common classification of hazards which include:Physical: e.g. lifting, awkward postures, slips and trips,

noise, dust, machinery, computer equipment, etc.Mental: e.g. excess workload, long hours, working with

high-need clients, bullying, etc. These are also called 'psychosocial' hazards, affecting mental health and occurring within working relationships.

Chemical: e.g. asbestos, cleaning fluids, aerosols, etc.Biological: Including tuberculosis, hepatitis and other

infectious diseases faced by healthcare workers.

Step 2: Decide who may be harmed, and how.

Identifying who is at risk starts with your organization's own full and part-time employees. Employers must also assess risks faced by agency and contract staff, visitors, clients and other members of the public on their premises.

Step 2

Employers must review work routines where their staff are employed. For example:• In a supermarket, hazards are found in the repetitive

tasks at the checkout, in lifting loads, and in slips and trips from spillages and hurdles in the shop and storerooms.

Step 3: Assess the risks and take action.

• This means employers must consider how likely it is that each hazard could cause harm. This will determine whether or not your employer should reduce the level of risk.

• Even after all precautions have been taken, some risk usually remains. Employers must decide for each remaining hazard whether the risk remains high, medium or low.

Step 4: Make a record of the findings

• Employers required to record in written form.• This record should include details of any hazards

noted in the risk assessment, and action taken to reduce or eliminate risk,

• That record will be used as the basis for a later review of working practices.

Step 5: Review the risk assessment

• A risk assessment must be kept under review in order to ensure that agreed safe working practices continue to be applied and take account of any new working practices, new machinery or more demanding work targets.

RankingHow do we rank or prioritize the risks?

Ranking or prioritizing hazards is one way to help determine • Which hazard is the most serious

And• Which hazard to control first.

By assigning a priority to the hazards, we are creating a ranking or an action list.

Ranking

The following factors play an important role:• Percentage of workforce exposed.• Frequency of exposure.• Degree of harm likely to result from the exposure• Probability of occurrence.

Table: Example of Risk Assessment

Hazard

Drivers work alone

Drivers have to occasionally work long hours

Drivers are often in very congested traffic

Drivers have to lift boxes when delivering product

Risk

May be unable to call for help if needed

Fatigue, short rest time between shifts

Increased chance of collision

Longer working hours

Injury to back from lifting, reaching, carrying, etc.

Task

Delivering product to customers

Principle of Crocodile

• Identify the risk

Principle of Crocodile

• Evaluate the risk

Principle of Crocodile

• Eliminate the risk

Principle of Crocodile

• Isolate the risk

Principle of Crocodile

• Use personal protective equipment

Conclusion

• Utilizing the results of this risk assessment, we will begin the next steps in the Risk Reduction planning process. This will start with the development of strategies and policies to mitigate risks, followed by the preparation and implementation of a risk reduction plan.

• After implementation, we will monitor, evaluate and modify the plan as necessary.

References

• http://www.hsa.ie/eng/Publications_and_Forms/Publications/Safety_and_Health_Management/Guidelines_on_Risk_Assessments_and_Safety_Statements.pdf

• https://www.ccohs.ca/oshanswers/hsprograms/risk_assessment.html

• https://worksmart.org.uk/health-advice/health-and-safety/hazards-and-risks/what-are-five-steps-risk-assessment

• http://www.hse.gov.uk/risk/controlling-risks.htm• http://riskassessment.strategicfire.org/step-3-risk-assessment-e

xample/conclusion-notes/

contacts

• Email :ranasajidalikhan10000@gmail.com• Mobile no:+923055790998• Department :environmental sciences

university of gujrat ,Punjab, Pakistan.