Carrying out a Risk Assessment using the Risk Assessment Form.

The risk assessment form is designed to allow assessment of any type of risk posed by an activity, whether from a procedure, a substance or a piece of equipment. A copy of the form is provided at the end of this Section for information and can also be obtained in electronic form from the Safety Officer or Deputy Safety Officer.

Completion of the Form.

The following notes will guide you through the process of risk assessment. 1. Ensure that the assessor is competent to carry out the assessment. Risk assessments carried out by First Year Postgraduate students should be checked and countersigned by their supervisor. In subsequent years, the Supervisor should check risk assessments periodically. 2. Write out the procedure being assessed before completing the form. This should be done prior to carrying out the risk assessment to ensure that you have included and considered all of its components, including any potential hazards. 3. [The following steps should be done using the form] Provide a title and brief description of the procedure or activity. This should be sufficient to be able to identify the main components of the work involved and the persons potentially at risk. 4. Complete the assessment table for each hazardous substance, procedure or item of equipment. Do not forget to consider all potential hazards. Many of the hazards come from chemicals and biological agents. There may also be mechanical hazards, such as crushing and laceration, and electrical hazards from equipment. Be aware that additional hazards are often created from a combination of hazards. For example, a process involving hazardous flammable substances which also uses electrical equipment may pose hazards of both an electrical and chemical nature and of fire (from the interaction between the two ). Include brief details of how the harm may be caused. An example entry would be: Toxic, by inhalation, ingestion or absorption through the skin. 5. List the existing or planned control measures for each entry. The control measures employed should primarily be aimed at eliminating or reducing the hazards in a procedure, followed by containment options and only as a last resort by personal protective equipment (PPE). 6. Examples of control measures include:

replacement of the process or substance with a safer alternative

engineering controls, such as machine guards or the enclosure of the process in a microbiological safety cabinet or fume cupboard

written Standard Operating Procedures, which include any required safety precautions appropriate training. Any special training required to ensure that persons involved in the work activity can operate safely should be detailed. This is particularly important so that persons can understand and comply effectively with a Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) where this has been formulated.

supervision by an appropriate person. The level of supervision must always be appropriate to the competence of the individuals involved in the work activity

Personal Protective equipment (PPE). This includes lab coats, safety spectacles and gloves, but additional protective equipment may be required, depending upon the hazard. Appropriate PPE should always be used. However, it is important to remember that PPE only protects the wearer and is the last line of defence between you and the hazard, often as a precaution against failure of other methods of protection. You should never rely only on PPE when more effective methods can be used. For example, fume cupboards should always be used in preference to face masks for chemicals which are hazardous by inhalation.

7. Any special training required to ensure that persons involved in the work activity can operate safely should be detailed. This is particularly important so that persons can understand and comply effectively with a Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) where this has been formulated. 8. Assess the associated risks for each entry This is done by considering the following factors:

Hazard the potential to cause harm

Risk the likelihood of an event occurring

Consequences the size of the area and/or the number of individuals affected should the event occur.

9.

Rank these elements qualitatively by scoring them from 1 to 3 (low to high) as in the table below. The scoring of the Risk factor should take into account any existing or planned control measures for the procedure.

Risk Assessment
Score
1

Hazard
Slight (first aid, brief period away from work)

Risk
Low (will very rarely occur)

Consequences
individual (one person affected)

Serious (medical treatment, more than 3 days off work)

Medium (Infrequent occurrence)

Group (All in immediate vicinity affected)

Major (severe injury or death)

High (frequent occurrence)

Building (All in wide area of building affected)

1. Apply the scores to the following equation: Risk Severity = Hazard x Risk x Consequences. e.g. If Hazard = 1, Risk = 1, and Consequences =1 then the Risk Severity Score =1 If Hazard = 2, Risk = 2, and Consequences =1 then the Risk Severity Score =4

Actions to Be Taken
The aim should be to reduce the Risk Severity Score to as low as is reasonably practicable.
The following table provides guidance for appropriate action depending on the Risk Severity score produced.

Risk Severity

Rating

Action and Timescale

Trivial

No action is required. No documentary records need be kept.

2-3

Acceptable

No further preventative action is necessary, but consideration should be given to additional control measures that impose minimal or no additional cost burden. Monitoring is required to ensure that the controls are maintained.

4-5

Moderate

Additional efforts should be made to reduce the risk, but the costs of prevention should be carefully measured and limited. Risk reduction measures should normally be implemented within three to six months, depending on the number of people exposed to the hazard.

6-8

Substantial

New work should not be started until the risk has been reduced to an acceptable level. Considerable resources may have to be allocated to reduce the risk. Where the risk involves work in progress, the problem should be remedied as quickly as possible and certainly within one to three months.

9-27

Intolerable

Work should not be started or continued until the risk level has been reduced. While the control measures should be cost-effective, the legal duty to reduce the risk is absolute. This means that if it is not possible to reduce the risk, even with unlimited resources, then the work must not be started or must remain prohibited.

1. Produce a contingency plan This is required to limit the extent of the risk arising from an accident or emergency (e.g. uncontrolled release or spill of a hazardous substance) and for regaining control as quickly as possible. 2. Outline the waste disposal procedures to be used. These must conform with the waste disposal policy. 3. Make the risk assessment available. This should be made available to every individual directly affected by the activity*, who should sign the document to show they have seen and read it. 4. Review the Risk Assessment. This should be done:

at regular intervals, depending on the rating of the hazard.(Normally not more than three years between reviews)

whenever there has been a significant change in the procedure or work circumstances there is any reason to suspect that the original assessment is no longer valid. Examples would include new information on the hazard indicating a higher or lower level of risk, personnel changes (young person, pregnant woman, untrained person, etc), changes in equipment or substances used, change of location, following an accident or incident.

If there has been any change which has resulted in an increased risk, This will require introduction of new control measures, which should be entered on an additional action plan.
REMEMBER! Completion of the assessment is not an end in itself, just the beginning. It should be used for frequent reference as a guide to the work involved and particularly when preparing associated Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) and training.