Legal, Ethical and Health and Safety Requirements (Health and Safety and Risk Assessments); PV LO2.2

Learning Objective 2

Health and Safety Sheets.

2.2 Ensure compliance with relevant legal, ethical and health and safety requirements.

Name:	Department:	Date:
Charley Forsyth	Media	10th May 2013

Hazard	Who’s at risk?	Severity of injury	Risk	Controls
Cables on floor/Trip hazards.	Everyone on site.	Medium.	Low.	Tape cables to the floor to avoid tripping.
Electricity.	Anyone dealing with equipment.	High.	Low.	Ensure everyone dealing with the equipment is fully trained to do so. Checks are carried out.
Fault Wires.	Anyone dealing with equipment.	High.	Low.	Ensure checks are made on all piece of equipment and cables etc.
Weather/Rain/Water.	Anyone dealing with equipment.	High.	Low.	Cover equipment when outside in the rain to avoid injury/damage.
Headphones/Hearing.	Anyone using the equipment.	Medium.	Low.	Plug headphones in first before placing on ears to ensure the volume isn’t too loud.

Learning Objective 2

Risk Assessment.

Here are the five steps to risk assessment in the workplace.

Step 1

Identify the hazards.

First you need to work out how people could be harmed. When you work in a place every day it is easy to overlook some hazards:

·         Walk around your workplace and look at what could reasonably be expected to cause harm.

·         Ask your employees or their representatives what they think. They may have noticed things that are not immediately obvious to you.

Step 2

Decide who might be harmed and how.

For each hazard you need to be clear about who might be harmed; it will help you identify the best way of managing the risk. That doesn’t mean listing everyone by name, but rather identifying groups of people (e.g. ‘people working in the storeroom’ or ‘passers-by’).

In each case, identify how they might be harmed, i.e. what type of injury or ill health might occur. For example, ‘shelf stackers may suffer back injury from repeated lifting of boxes’.

Step 3

Evaluate the risks and decide on precautions.

Having spotted the hazards, you then have to decide what to do about them. The law requires you to do everything ‘reasonably practicable’ to protect people from harm. You can work this out for yourself, but the easiest way is to compare what you are doing with good practice. So first, look at what you’re already doing; think about what controls you have in place and how the work is organised. Then compare this with the good practice and see if there’s more you should be doing to bring yourself up to standard. In asking yourself this, consider:

·         Can I get rid of the hazard altogether?

·         If not, how can I control the risks so that harm is unlikely?

Step 4

Record your findings and implement them.

Putting the results of your risk assessment into practice will make a difference when looking after people and your business.

Step 5

Review your risk assessment and update if necessary.

Few workplaces stay the same. Sooner or later, you will bring in new equipment, substances and procedures that could lead to new hazards. It makes sense, therefore, to review what you are doing on an ongoing basis.

Learning Objective 2

Here is an example of a risk assessment sheet.

Name:

Department:

Date:

Reference:

Is this assessment for a one off activity: (Please tick)

Yes:

No:

1.       Identify activity/Area being assessed:

2.       Identity those potentially at risk: (Please tick)

Activity: Area:

Staff:

Student:

Contractor:

Visitor:

General Public:

Other:

1.       List all substantial/High hazards:	2.       Detail any existing control measures:	3.       Detail additional control measures:	4.       Due dates for measures to be put into place:

Assessor signature:		Assessment review date:		Actual date reviewed:
Line Manager:		Signature:		Date: