SAFETY GUIDANCE RISK ASSESSMENT Page 1 of 31 The company recognises that workplace hazards expose individuals to the risk of harm. Hazard awareness is, therefore, essential if accidents are to be avoided. Through training, regular communication and consultation, it endeavours to reduce the risk attaching to these hazards to an acceptable level. Wherever there is a probability that this cannot be achieved, a written risk assessment will be completed, recorded and communicated. From time to time there will be a need for an assessment of the risk attaching to specific work tasks or site/workplace hazards not covered by the generic assessments. In such cases a risk assessment will be carried out by the manager/supervisor allocating the task or the person(s) who will carry out the task. The assessment will be recorded and communicated by the manager responsible for the work task or work site. The manager will ensure that the personnel who will carry out the work task are competent by way of relevant training and/or experience. It is recommended that signatures are obtained from employees indicating that they have fully understood and agree to comply with the content of the information presented. If signatures are not obtained then some other form of record must be kept that demonstrates that the individual has received the information e.g. via delivery at induction, delivery at safety meetings, given time and space to read the information, etc.
Transcript
SAFETY GUIDANCERISK ASSESSMENT Page 1 of 23
The company recognises that workplace hazards expose individuals to the risk of harm. Hazard awareness is, therefore, essential if accidents are to be avoided. Through training, regular communication and consultation, it endeavours to reduce the risk attaching to these hazards to an acceptable level. Wherever there is a probability that this cannot be achieved, a written risk assessment will be completed, recorded and communicated.
From time to time there will be a need for an assessment of the risk attaching to specific work tasks or site/workplace hazards not covered by the generic assessments. In such cases a risk assessment will be carried out by the manager/supervisor allocating the task or the person(s) who will carry out the task. The assessment will be recorded and communicated by the manager responsible for the work task or work site. The manager will ensure that the personnel who will carry out the work task are competent by way of relevant training and/or experience.
It is recommended that signatures are obtained from employees indicating that they have fully
understood and agree to comply with the content of the information presented. If signatures are not
obtained then some other form of record must be kept that demonstrates that the individual has
received the information e.g. via delivery at induction, delivery at safety meetings, given time and
space to read the information, etc.
If an assessment for a task cannot be followed or conditions change such that the assessment is no longer appropriate, work must stop until such time as the task can be reassessed.
Risk assessments specify control measures which must be in place before work can commence.
Those carrying out risk assessment should have attended formal Health and Safety training or should attend an approved company in-house risk assessment course.
Assessment Review
For new assessments and for changes to existing assessments a review date will be required at 12 months. At the 12 month review if no changes are necessary the second and subsequent reviews can be set for a five year period.
SAFETY GUIDANCE SG001.00RISK ASSESSMENT Page 2 of 23Risk assessment should be seen as a continuing process. So, the adequacy of your selected control measures should be subject to continual review and revised if necessary. Similarly if conditions change to the extent that hazards and risks are significantly affected then the risk assessment should also be reviewed.
Contents page
Background 2
The Law 2
Key Definitions 3
The risk assessment process 4
Annex A - The process of risk assessment in brief
11
Annex B - Prompt-List Of Hazards12
Annex C -Blank Risk Assessment Pro-forma
13
Annex D - Completed Risk Assessment14
Annex E - Extended Hazard Checklist15
SAFETY GUIDANCE SG001.00RISK ASSESSMENT Page 3 of 23
The Law
The Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999 (MHSW) were introduced under the umbrella of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974, to enable the UK to implement the EC directive aimed at encouraging an improvement in the approach of management towards the health and safety of people at work.
The duties imposed by the MHSW in most cases are ‘absolute’, ie not qualified by the terms ‘practicable’ or ‘reasonably practicable’. There are 30 regulations in-all making up the MHSW Regulations, Regulation 3 - Risk Assessment, being the one that these guidelines are designed to explain. (Accompanying the MHSW is an approved code of practice (L21) available from HSE books which is recommended reading.) The main provisions of Regulation 3 are summarised below.
Risk Assessment Regulation 3 Regulation 3 of MHSW requires employers to make a suitable and sufficient assessment of the risks to the health and safety of their employees whilst at work. The purpose of an assessment under these regulations is to enable the employer to identify the preventative or protective control measures necessary to control the risks highlighted in the risk assessment. An assessment must also include any risks to the health and safety of non-employees.
A suitable and sufficient assessment is one that: correctly identifies the significant risks that are reasonably foreseeable enables the assessor to decide what action needs to be taken, and what the priorities
should be is appropriate for the type of activity will remain valid for a reasonable time reflects what employers may reasonably practicably be expected to know about the risks
associated with their undertaking.
The time and effort put into an assessment should be proportional to the degree of risk.
Where an assessment has been carried out as a requirement of some other regulations, for example COSHH, there is no need to repeat the exercise for the purposes of meeting the MHSW Regulations.
An assessment must be reviewed and up dated where necessary.
Where an employer has several similar workplaces with similar activities a ‘generic’ (or model basic) assessment may be appropriate, but these ‘generic’ assessments must be adapted, where necessary, to be relevant to each individual undertaking.
A record of the assessment is required where an employer has five or more employees. The record must detail: the significant hazards which might pose a serious risk if they were not properly controlled; the control measures in place and the population exposed to the risks, including any group of people especially at risk. What is risk assessment and why do it?
The basic steps
Risk assessment involves three basic steps:
1) Identify hazards;2) Estimate the risk from each hazard - the likelihood and severity of harm3) Decide if risk is tolerable
Why is risk assessment important?
For many years occupational health and safety risk assessments have been carried out usually on an informal basis. Employers are now legally obliged to carry out risk assessments under MHSW, and
SAFETY GUIDANCE SG001.00RISK ASSESSMENT Page 4 of 23other more specific regulations. Their main purpose is to determine whether planned or existing safety control measures are adequate. The intention is that hazards are removed or risks controlled before harm can occur.
Some do’s and don’ts
Don’t- think of risk assessment as a bureaucratic imposition. That will waste time and change nothing.
Do - look on risk assessment as an aid to providing an action list, which will form the basis for implementing control measures.
Do- ensure that you have, or select people that have practical knowledge of the activities being assessed.
Do- involve other people in risk assessment, everyone should contribute to assessments that relate to them.
Don’t become complacent. People who are too close to situations may no longer see hazards. The aim is that everyone tackles risk assessment with a fresh pair of eyes and a questioning approach.
Risk assessment pro-forma A risk assessment pro-forma has been developed. Blank and completed examples can be found in Annex C and D. The use of these forms will be referred to throughout these guidelines.
The pro-forma and completed generic assessments are available on the library drive of the server for ease of cribbing for similar activities.
Key Definitions
One aspect of risk assessment, which can cause some confusion, is the proliferation of interpretations of familiar words such as accident, hazard, risk and so on. So, for the purposes of these guidelines the following definitions will apply.
Accident An accident is an unwanted, unexpected, unplanned and unanticipated event with negative consequences, which results in harm or loss.
Incident An incident is an event, which represents a deviation from the intended sequence of steps designed to enable an objective to be attained. It normally has an unwanted outcome. A “near miss” tends to be described as an incident.
Hazard A hazard is an article, substance, machine, installation or situation with a
potential to cause harm or loss.
Risk Risk is the combination of the likelihood and the severity of a specified hazardous event (accident or incident). Risk, then, always has two elements:
SAFETY GUIDANCE SG001.00RISK ASSESSMENT Page 5 of 23
a) the likelihood that a hazard may occur;
b) the severity of the harm or loss
Harm Harm represents physical injury, ill-health, death, property and equipment damage and any form of associated loss.
Danger Danger is a state or situation which is a product of a hazard and its associated risk (the difference between danger and risk can be illustrated by the following. Where there are permanently exposed high voltage electrical conductors there is a permanent danger of electrocution; however the risk of electrocution would vary between, say a competent electrician and a young child in close proximity with the conductors).
Tolerable Risk Risk has been reduced to the lowest level that is reasonably practicable.
Example using the definitionsWorking from a ladder is a hazard with the potential to cause harm both to the person working on the ladder (eg harm caused by falling) and to people below (eg harm caused by being struck by an object dropped from the ladder). The person working from the ladder is in danger and anyone below the ladder is in a danger area.
The risk assessment of working from a ladder will analyze:
(a) the likelihood of these accidents or incidents occurring, taking into account the condition of the ladder, if it is secured, if the work carried out from it requires two hands or overreaching, how competent the person on the ladder is, how long the work will take, if the ladder is near a busy doorway or in public areas, etc
(b) the severity of the harm; this is related to the height of the work, the surface below the ladder, whether the work is over water or chemicals, if the ladder is near a busy doorway or in public areas, etc.
These factors, and any others, will be used to decide on the level of risk and evaluate if the hazard is adequately controlled.
The risk assessment process
1 Identify Work Activities
A necessary preliminary to risk assessment is to draw up a list of work activities, group them in a manageable way and then gather information about them. It is best to integrate assessment for all hazards, associated with a task, and not carry out separate assessments for health hazards, manual handling, machinery hazards and so on. For example, constructing an aluminium tower scaffold has two main hazards, falls from above 2m and manual handling. Only one assessment should be carried out, but would include how to control these two hazards.
The size of the job in hand will determine whether a list of work activities needs to be drawn up. A large project, for instance, may have many tasks associated with it, i.e. working at height, pressure testing, welding, use of mobile elevating work platforms, lifting of evaporators, site access, etc. In a case such as this, a list would need to be drawn up. Many of the tasks will have been assessed
SAFETY GUIDANCE SG001.00RISK ASSESSMENT Page 6 of 23previously. Generic assessments will be found on the server. If appropriate these can be used un-altered, or changed to take account of any site-specific requirements.
There may be some tasks on your list that have no previous assessment, therefore, it will be necessary for you to carry out the assessment yourself.
Having decided that there is a task that requires assessment, you may need to gather information. Some areas to think about include the following:
tasks being carried out: their duration and frequency;
location where the work is carried out;
who will be carrying out the task;
others who may be affected by the work (e.g. visitors, contractors, the public);
training that personnel have received about the tasks;
any written systems of work ( e.g. technical bulletins or standard specifications);
is there a permit to work system that must be followed or site specific rules (customers safety rules);
plant, machinery powered hand tools that may be required including any operating
instruction;
size, shape surface character and weight of materials that may be handled;
distances and height that materials have to be moved by hand and over what surface (working on a cold store ceiling);
services used (e.g. compressed air, electricity);
substances used during the task (e.g. paints, gases) and their physical form (fume, gas, vapour, liquid dust/powder, solid);
content of and recommendations of COSHH and material safety data sheets (MSDS) relating to substances used or encountered;
requirements of relevant acts, regulations and standards relevant to the work being carried out, the plant and machinery used, and the substances used or encountered (e.g. BS EN 378 - 2000, Refrigeration Institute Codes, Electricity at Work Regulations, Pressure Systems Regulations etc);
Control measures that are already in place or you are positive will be in place when the work is due to take place.
2 Identify Hazards
Once the tasks are known and relevant information has been gathered, hazards associated with the tasks need to be identified. Three questions help with hazard identification:
SAFETY GUIDANCE SG001.00RISK ASSESSMENT Page 7 of 23
1. is there a source of harm?
2. who ( or what ) could be harmed?
3. how could harm occur?
The approved code of practice (ACOP) to the Management of Health and safety at Work Regulations says that a suitable and sufficient risk assessment should be made. “Suitable and sufficient” is not defined in the Regulations. In practice it means the risk assessment should identify the risks arising from or in connection with work. The level of detail in a risk assessment should be proportionate to the risk. Once the risks are assessed and taken into account, insignificant risks can usually be ignored as can those risks arising from routine activities associated with life in general, unless the
work activity compounds or significantly alters those risks. It is difficult to see how the risk associated with a hazard can be considered insignificant unless it has been identified and properly analysed. Therefore, it is good practice to identify all hazards, but if you consider the hazard to possess little potential to cause harm, then give it a low risk rating. (See 4 Determine Risk)
A prompt-list of hazards is recommended, such as the one in annex B an extended checklist of hazards can be found in annex E
3 Identify Risk Control Measures
During your consideration of the identified hazards, you must note down the existing or planned control measures that you think are necessary to control that risk, on the Star pro-forma, An example of some control measures can be found on the example risk assessment in Annex D.
For the planned control measures, it may be necessary to prepare an action plan for their implementation well in advance of any work being started.
Selection of Safety Controls
The selection of Safety control measures is largely up to the individuals carrying out the assessment. This is why assessments should only be carried out by people with practical experience of the work activity (If in doubt ask for help. Assessments carried out by a small team, are usually the most workable). The control measures decided upon, must then be implemented and discussed with the people who will be carrying out the work it is useful to obtain their signatures once they agree to implement the controls and fully understand the assessment requirements.
In deciding which preventative and protective measures to take in order to control the hazard, you should apply the following principles of prevention:
Measures that protect everyone;
a. Eliminate- if possible, eliminate the hazards altogether, e.g. do the work in a different way, taking care not to introduce new hazards;
b. evaluate risks that cannot be avoided by carrying out a risk assessment;
c. Reduce- if elimination is not possible, replace the dangerous by the non-dangerous or the less dangerous e.g. by using a low voltage electrical tool;
d. Isolate- put a barrier between the hazard and the exposed persons, ideally a physical barrier, e.g. machine guard or acoustic housing, but space or time can help. where possible adapt work to the individual, e.g. to take account of individual mental and physical capabilities;
SAFETY GUIDANCE SG001.00RISK ASSESSMENT Page 8 of 23
e. Control- these are ideally engineering controls e.g. interlocks, and extraction systems. Safe systems of work in the form of procedures and codes of practice backed up by administrative systems, can be required.
Measures that only protect the individual;
f. Personal protective equipment- this option must only be used when the risk is not adequately controlled by other measures. It is useful as a short-term measure, only used until better solutions are identified and implemented. PPE should be considered as a last resort;
Common measures;
g. Educate the workforce- train and inform;
h. Emergency arrangements- consideration should be given to the development of emergency and evacuation plans, and provision of emergency equipment relevant to particular hazards e.g. drench shower for ammonia splashes.
Additional notes:
1. take advantage of technical progress, which often offers opportunities for improving working methods and making them safer;
2. give priority to those measures which protect the whole workplace and everyone who works there, and so give the greatest benefit (i.e. give collective measures priority over individual measures – provide edge protection rather than provide safety harnesses)
3. combat risks at source, rather than taking palliative measures. So, if the steps are slippery, treating or replacing them is better than displaying a warning sign;
4 Determine Risk
As mentioned earlier, risk always has two elements, likelihood and severity. The risk from a hazard should be determined by subjective estimations of the potential severity of harm and the likelihood that harm will occur. You should make your initial estimations based on the existing controls being in place and any additional estimations based on the assumption that the planned controls will be in place.
Severity of harm When trying to determine the potential severity of harm, the following should be considered:
parts of the body likely to be affected (e.g. a crush injury to ones arm is less likely tobe as debilitating as a crush injury to the head)
the following descriptions of the nature of harm, ranging from low to high –
Low First aid injury e.g superficial injuries, minor cuts and bruises, eye irritation
SAFETY GUIDANCE SG001.00RISK ASSESSMENT Page 9 of 23
from dust, Nuisance and irritation (e.g. headaches), ill health leading to temporary discomfort;
Medium Major injury or over 3 days off work e.g lacerations, burns, concussion, serious sprains, Minor fractures, deafness, dermatitis, asthma, work related upper limb disorders, ill-health leading to permanent minor disability.
High Permanent incapacity or death e.g, amputations, major fractures, poisonings, multiple injuries, fatal injuries, occupational cancer, other severely life shortening diseases, acute fatal diseases.
Table 1: Severity rating SEVERITY RATINGLow (1) = First aid injuryMedium (2) = Major injury or over 3 days off workHigh (3) = Permanent incapacity or death
Likelihood of harmWhen trying to determine the likelihood of harm the adequacy of existing and planned control measures needs to be considered. The following issues should be considered in addition to the work activity information already gathered:
number of personnel exposed; frequency and duration of exposure to the hazard: failure of services e.g. electricity and water; failure of plant and machinery components and safety devices; exposure to the elements; protection afforded by personal protective equipment and usage rate of such equipment; unsafe acts (unintended errors or intentional violations of procedures) by persons, for
example, who: a. may not know what the hazards are;b. may not have the knowledge, physical capacity or skills to do the
work;c. underestimate risks to which they are exposed (particularly the
young);
Frequency of harm, ranging from low to high:
Low Unlikely, i.e. harm will seldom occurMedium Possible, i.e Harm will occur more frequentlyHigh Likely, i.e harm is certain or near certain
These subjective estimations of severity and likelihood should take into account all the people exposed to a hazard. Therefore, any given hazard is more serious if it affects a greater number of people. But remember some very large risks may be associated with an occasional task carried out by just one person.
SAFETY GUIDANCE SG001.00RISK ASSESSMENT Page 10 of 235 Decide if Risk is Tolerable
The likelihood and severity descriptions above have been given scores ranging from 1 to 3 as follows:
Likelihood:- Low = 1,Medium = 2,High =3.
Severity:- Low = 1, Medium = 2,High = 3;
A risk rating for a given hazard is then arrived at by multiplying the appropriate likelihood and severity scores of the hazard together.
Likelihood x Severity = Risk Rating
Table 3: Risk Level EstimatorRISK RATING (Likelihood X Severity)
Having arrived at a risk rating for each of the hazards identified, it is time to decide whether the risks associated with the work activity are acceptable. In order to do this we can refer to Table 4 for basic guidance. The table indicates that control effort and urgency should be proportional to the risk.
Table 4: Risk Based Control Plan Risk Level Action and TimescaleTrivial No action is required and no documentary records need to be kept.Tolerable No additional controls are required. Consideration may be given to a more cost-
effective solution or improvement that imposes no additional cost burden. Monitoring is required to ensure that the controls are maintained.
Moderate Thought should be given to reduce risk, but the costs of prevention should be carefully measured and limited. Risk reduction measures should be implemented within a defined time period.
Where moderate risk is associated with extremely harmful consequences, further assessment may be required to establish more precisely the likelihood of harm as a basis for determining the need for improved control measures.
Substantial Work should not be started until the risk is reduced. Considerable resources may have to be allocated to reduce the risk. Where the risk involves work in progress, urgent action should be taken.
Intolerable Work should not be started or continued until the risk is reduced. If this is not possible even with unlimited resources, work has to remain prohibited.
Example:
Referring to the completed risk assessment in annex D
The task is to move steel pipe across the insulated ceiling of a cold store. On site there is just one engineer.
Three main hazards have been identified (there may be more!)
SAFETY GUIDANCE SG001.00RISK ASSESSMENT Page 11 of 23Taking the hazard ‘Manual handling of steel pipe, weight 100 kg’ as our example. The identified existing controls in place are one man trained in manual handling supplied with leather handling gloves to protect hands and steel toecap boots to protect toes.
Assessing the risk with these controls in place I have given the hazard “strain or sprain due to manual handling of steel pipe, weight 100 kg’ a likelihood score of 3 (likely as one man could not safely lift 100kg) and a severity score of 2 (Major injury or over 3 days off work because if he tried to lift he could pull a muscle or tear a tendon), multiplied the two together which equals 6 and then entered this in the risk rating (RR) column.
With a RR of 6 referring to table 3 above a RR of 6 equates to a substantial risk, therefore, from table 4 “Work should not be started until the risk is reduced. Considerable resources may have to be allocated to reduce the risk. Where the risk involves work in progress, urgent action should be taken”. Therefore, unless further controls are put in place this work must not start.
At this point we can consider the principles of prevention and start by considering whether we need to move the pipe by hand at all (i.e. eliminate the hazard), could a crane do the work for example? In this case we have assumed that there’s no alternative but to do the job by hand, so we need to decide on appropriate controls to do this and enter these into the column “Further work required to give acceptable level of risk”. A team lift is decided upon, however, all in the team must have had manual handling training, and all must wear hand and foot protection. Using 4 people in this way will limit the load to just 25 kg each.
Assessing the risk with these additional controls in place I have given the hazard “strain or sprain due to manual handling of steel pipe, weight 100 kg’ a likelihood score of 1 (Unlikely, i.e. harm will seldom occur as four men working as a team could safely lift 100kg) but the severity score has remained at 2 (Major injury or over 3 days off work because if the team does not work as one, then someone could still pull a muscle or tear a tendon), multiplied the two together which equals 2 and then entered this in the risk rating (RR) column.
Referring to tables 3 and 4 a RR of 2 equates to a tolerable risk, therefore, no additional controls are required. Consideration may be given to a more cost-effective solution or improvement that imposes no additional cost burden. Monitoring is required to ensure that the controls are maintained”. Therefore, with these further controls in place the hazard is adequately controlled.
An action is placed on the project manager to resource the extra men.
6 Review Adequacy of Risk Controls
The adequacy of the planned control measures should be reviewed before implementation, a number of questions should be asked?
will the planned control measures lead to tolerable risk levels?
are any new hazards created by the new or planned control measures?
has the most cost-effective solution been chosen?
what do people affected think about the need for, and practicality of, the planned measures?
SAFETY GUIDANCE SG001.00RISK ASSESSMENT Page 12 of 23
will the planned controls be used in practice, and not ignored in the face of, for example, pressures to get the job done?
Validate the assessment
Having completed the assessment and completed the pro-forma, all that remains to be done is for you to state whether the control measures are adequate to control the risk or not. This is done by simply signing the pro-forma on the “completed by” line.
Assessment Review
Risk assessment should be seen as a continuing process. So, the adequacy of your selected control measures should be subject to continual review and revised if necessary. Similarly if conditions change to the extent that hazards and risks are significantly affected then the risk assessment should also be reviewed. And in any case a review date should be set for an initial period of twelve months
Annex A - The process of risk assessment in brief
The following criteria are necessary for an effective risk assessment:
1) Identify Work Activities:
Prepare a list of work activities covering premises, plant, people, and procedures, and gather information about them.
2) Identify Hazards:
Identify all significant hazards relating to each work activity. Consider who might be harmed and how.
3) Identify Risk Controls:
Note down any existing control measures.
4) Determine Risk:
Considering the effectiveness of the controls in (3) and the consequences of their failure, make a subjective estimate of risk associated with each hazard.
5) Decide if Risk is Tolerable:
Judge whether existing controls are sufficient to keep the hazard under control. If they are go to (9). However, if the hazard is not adequately controlled then go to (6)
6) Identify Additional Risk Controls:
Note down additional control measures.
7) Determine Risk:
Again, considering the effectiveness of the controls in (3) and (6), and the consequences of their failure, make a subjective estimate of risk associated with each hazard.
8) Decide if Risk is Tolerable:
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Judge whether existing plus additional planned controls are sufficient to keep the hazard under control if they are go to (9). However, if the hazard is not adequately controlled then work must not start.
9) Implement Controls and Review Adequacy of Risk Controls:
The risk assessment is complete, implement control measures, ensure those at risk are made aware of the requirements of the assessment. The adequacy of the risk control measures should be reviewed periodically.
Note. The word ‘tolerable’ here means that risk has been reduced to the lowest level that is reasonably practicable.
Annex B - Prompt-List Of Hazards
Physical
Falls from above 2m Falls less than 2m Slips, trips, falls on same level Moving Plant Moving Machine Parts Moving Materials Access equipment Inadequate guard rails
Electrical
Overhead cables Shock Use of Power tools Burns Wet floors
Hot Work
Fire Burns Fumes
Radiation
Ionising- (X-Ray and Gama ray) Non-Ionising-(Ultraviolet)
Environment
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Pushing/pulling Lifting Carrying Stooping or Twisting
Miscellaneous
Confined space Restricted space Restricted access Lone working Violence to staff
This is not an exhaustive list of hazards but probably does cover most of the hazards associated.
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Annex C - Blank Risk Assessment
Risk Assessment No…………………………..Page 1 of 1 Department:…………………………………………………
Process/work activity……………………………………..
Date:………………………………………………
Review Date:…………………………………………
Completed by:…………………………………………
Hazard Description
Who could be harmed?
(Operator/OtherOperators/Visitors
Present controls
Risk Ratingwith current
controls
Further work required togive acceptable level of risk/Other Assessments
Required
Risk Rating with additional
controls
ActionAllocation
/ Completi
onDate
L S RR L S RR
SAFETY GUIDANCE SG001.00RISK ASSESSMENT Page 16 of 23LIKELIHOOD RATING SEVERITY RATING RISK RATING (Likelihood X Severity)Low (1) = Unlikely Low (1) = First aid injury 1 = Trivial Risk 6 = Substantial Risk Medium (2) = Possible Medium (2) = Major injury or over 3 days off work 2 = Tolerable Risk 9 = Intolerable RiskHigh (3) = Likely High (3) = Permanent incapacity or death 3 or 4 = Moderate Risk
Annex D - Completed Risk Assessment
Risk Assessment No………………………….. Page 1of 1
Department: ACME Cold storage Somewhere S35 77QZProcess/work activity…Man handle 6m lengths of 6 inch diameter steel pipe across the insulated ceiling of the cold store…………………………………..
Date:……12 /08/2004…………………………………...
Review Date:……12/08/2005………………………
Completed by:…C Haslam……………………………..
Hazard Description
Who could be harmed?
(Operator/OtherOperators/Visitors
Present controls
Risk Ratingwith current
controls
Further work required togive acceptable level of risk/Other Assessments
Required
Risk Rating with
additional controls
ActionAllocation/ Completion
DateL S RR L S RR
Strain or sprain injury from manual handling of steel pipe, weight 100 kg
Star engineer/s One man trained in manual handling.Leather handling gloves to protect hands. Steel cap boots.
3 2 6 Team lift using 4 engineers all trained in manual handling to limit load to 25 Kg each.
1 2 2 Project manager to arrange for extra men
Fall greater than 2m following the collapse of the insulated ceiling due to panel overloading
Star engineers Panel condition good, assume one man and toolbox per panel loading.
2 3 6Use “youngman” boards spread from top hat to top hat to spread the load
1 3 3Project manager to order boards.Site engineer to ensure boards in place
SAFETY GUIDANCE SG001.00RISK ASSESSMENT Page 17 of 23Crush injuries from ceiling panels falling onto persons below as result of panel collapse
ACME staff Panel condition goodUse “youngman” boards spread from top hat to top hat to spread the load
1 3 3ACME staff could be removed from the area. 1 1 1
Site engineer to liaise with client to advise of risk
LIKELIHOOD RATING SEVERITY RATING RISK RATING (Likelihood X Severity)Low (1) = Unlikely Low (1) = First aid injury 1 = Trivial Risk 6 = Substantial Risk Medium (2) = Possible Medium (2) = Major injury or over 3 days off work 2 = Tolerable Risk 9 = Intolerable RiskHigh (3) = Likely High (3) = Permanent incapacity or death 3 or 4 = Moderate Risk
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Annex E - Extended Hazard Checklist
Hazards associated with plant and equipment (including non-powered plant and hand tools)
CATEGORY TYPE OF HARM EXAMPLES OF HAZARDMechanical Trapping (crushing, drawing in and
shearing injuries)Two moving parts or one moving part and a fixed surfaceConveyor belt and driveVee belt and pulleyPower press'In-running nips"MangleGuillotineScissorsStaplerUsing hammer
Impact (includes puncture) Something that may strike or stab someone or can be struck againstMoving vehicleRobot armSewing machineDrillHypodermic needlePendulumCrane hook
Contact (Cutting, friction or abrasion) Something sharp or with a rough surfaceKnife, chisel, saw, etc.Blender bladeCircular saw bladeSanding beltAbrasive wheelHover mower blade
Entanglement (rotating parts) Drill chuck and bitPower take off shaftPipe threading machineAbrasive wheel
Ejection (of work piece or part of tool) Cartridge toolUsing hammer and chiselAbrasive wheel
Electrical Shock/burn/fire/explosion
ignition sources
Electricity above 240v Electricity -240v Electricity- 110 v CTE Extra low volt electricity StaticBatteries
Pressure Release of energy (Explosion/injection/implosion)
Compressed air Compressed gas
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Steam boiler Vacuum Hydraulic system
CATEGORY TYPE OF HARM EXAMPLES OF HAZARDStored energy Flying/Falling materials Springs under tension
Springs under compressionHoist platform/lift cageConveyor tension weightRaised tipper lorry bodyCounterweightLoad carried by crane
Thermal Burns/fires/scalds/frostbite Hot surfaceUsing blow lampWelding flame/areRefrigerantSteam
Ionising radiation Bums, cancer X RaysGama RadiationNeutrons
Non ionising radiation
Burns Micro waveRadio frequencyLaserUltra violetInfra red
Noise Hearing loss, tinnitus, etc. Noise > 85 dB(A) Vibration Vibration white finger, whole body
effectsPneumatic drillOperation of plant
Stability Crushing Inadequate crane baseFork lift truck on slopeMachine not bolted downMobile Scaffold too highScaffold not tied
Work related upper limb disorders Keyboard work Using screwdriver Using hammer and chisel Bricklaying Plucking chickens Production line tasks
Posture Work related upper limb disorders, stress, etc.
Seated work Work above head height Work at floor level
Hazards associated with materials and substances
CATEGORY TYPE OF HARM EXAMPLES OF HAZARDFIRE/EXPLOSION Combustion Bums Timber stack
Insulation Paper store Grease Magnesium Straw Plastic foam
Increased Burns Oxygen enrichment
SAFETY GUIDANCE SG001.00RISK ASSESSMENT Page 21 of 23
CombustionFlammable substance (inc. Highly and Extremely Flammable) See also explosive below
Burns Petrol Propane gas Methane Carbon Monoxide Methanol Paraffin Acetone Toluene
Oxidising substance
Burns Organic peroxide Potassium permanganate Nitric acid Explosive material Fireworks Proprietary explosives Detonators Some oxidising agents Highly flammable gas in confined space
