A Quick Guide to Risk Assessment

Part 1: Introduction

What is Risk Assessment? Relevant information should also be collated to facilitate better
It is the process of: understanding of the work process.
1. Identifying and analysing safety and health hazards
associated with work
What to know? Where to find?
2. Assessing the risks involved and
3. Prioritising measures to control the hazards and • Where the work is carried out • Plant layout plan
reduce the risks • Who is doing the work • Flowchart of processes
• What equipment is used • List of work activities/trades
• What steps are involved • List of chemicals, machinery
Why should we do Risk Assessment? • What the existing control
measures are •
and tools used
Records of past incidents and
• What do existing regulations accidents
Risk assessment allows us identify the hazards at the and codes of practices • Relevant legislations, codes of
workplace and implement effective risk control measures stipulate practice or specifications
before they escalate into accidents and injuries. • Observations and interviews
• Inspection records
• Details of existing risk controls
Under the new Workplace Safety and Health (Risk • Health and safety audit
Management) Regulations, every workplace, including reports
• Feedback from staff, clients,
factories, should conduct risk assessments for all routine and suppliers or other stakeholders
non-routine work undertaken. • Safe work procedures and
copies of previous risk
assessments
How is Risk Assessment done?
Prior to conducting Risk Assessment, adequate preparation Having completed the preparation work, workplace risks may then be
must be done. A risk assessment team should be formed, assessed in 3 simple steps:
preferably consisting personnel from the various levels of 1. Hazard Identification
participation in the work activity. 2. Risk Evaluation
3. Risk Control
Part 2: Generic Steps of Risk Assessment

1 HAZARD
IDENTIFICATION
2 RISK
EVALUATION
3 RISK
CONTROL

• Identify hazards • Estimate the risk levels of • Formulate the control

• Identify potential the workplace hazards measures according to
accidents or incidents identified the Hierarchy of Controls
• Prioritise the hazards to • Analyse and evaluate
be controlled residual risks
 STEP 1: Hazard Identification

Hazard Identification involves identifying the hazards associated with the activity of each process and type of potential accidents or incidents.
During this phase, the aim is to spot hazards, brainstorm on all the possible types of accidents and ill health that can happen due to the
hazard, and identify the persons that can be victims of the accident or ill health.

Types of accident, incident and ill health may include: You may wish to consider the following when trying to
look for instances of hazardous work:
√ Person falling from height
√ Object falling from height ™ Method of work e.g. repeated tasks and unsafe
√ Slips or falls on the same level work practices
√ Electrocution ™ Electrical and mechanical hazards
√ Asphyxiation ™ Excessive manual material handling e.g. lifting,
√ Drowning pulling and pushing
√ Noise induced deafness ™ Excessive exposure to chemicals e.g. corrosive
√ Dermatitis substances
√ Collapse of structure ™ Machinery e.g. unguarded machines
√ Fire and explosion ™ Temporary structures e.g. scaffolds
√ Struck by or against object ™ Environmental conditions e.g. slippery surfaces,
√ Soft tissue damage (sprains, strains) lighting, unstable soil conditions
™ Layout and location of equipment
Persons-at-risk may include:

√ Persons directly involved in the operation

√ Persons not directly involved in the operation
√ Visitors to the workplace
√ Members of the public

1 HAZARD 2 RISK 3 RISK

IDENTIFICATION EVALUATION CONTROL
A simple way of identifying hazards for a particular work activity is to divide the work activity into the major steps of carrying out the work and
analyse the steps individually for the presence of hazards. It is also important to differentiate between hazards and accidents or ill-health,
which are events caused by inadequate control of hazards. The following chart illustrates the method of identifying hazards systematically
and also gives examples for hazards leading up to certain events:

Divide into Accidents or Ill-health

Work Activity Major Steps Spot the Hazards Arising from Hazards
… …
1. Moving metal drums to the spray booth … …
e.g. Spray … …
Painting … …
2. Preparing and mixing paint … …
… …
Further expansion for step 3:
3. Carrying out spray painting
- Toxic solvent vapours - Exposure to spray paint
- Flammable spray paint mists solvents can result in ill health
or vapours and ignition - Explosion from spray paint mists
sources and vapours can result in
serious injury or death of the
worker and nearby people

1 HAZARD 2 RISK 3 RISK

IDENTIFICATION EVALUATION CONTROL
 STEP 2: Risk Evaluation

Risk evaluation is the process of estimating the risk levels for the hazards and their acceptability. This is used as a base for prioritising
actions to control these hazards and minimise safety and health risks.

Risk is made up of 2 parts:

1. Predicted SEVERITY of the hazard and,
2. LIKELIHOOD of occurrence of the accident, incident or ill health taking into account the existing risk controls

Factors to take into consideration:

EXISTING RISK CONTROLS must be taken into account when assessing risks. By considering the effectiveness of these controls, and the
consequences of their failure, the risk of the activity can be better assessed.

SEVERITY is the degree or extent of injury or harm caused by the hazards, or as a result of an accident. The severity is classified into 3
categories: Minor, Moderate and Major.

LIKELIHOOD of occurance of an accident, incident or ill health may be defined as the probability that the said incident will happen and is also
classified into 3 categories: Remote, Occasional or Frequent. To minimise the subjectivity of estimating likelihood, in addition to looking at
existing risk controls, the following sources of information should be considered:
√ Past incident and accident records
√ Industry practice and experience
√ Relevant published literature

RISK LEVEL may be determined once the severity and likelihood have been established. This may be achieved by using a 3 by 3 matrix.
The size of the matrix may vary according to complexity of the work conditions.

The following chart illustrates how severity and likelihood come together to help determine risk level.

1 HAZARD 2 RISK 3 RISK

IDENTIFICATION EVALUATION CONTROL
 Risk Evaluation Map
Determine Likelihood
Determine Severity

No injury, injury or ill-health requiring first aid treatment only Remote Not likely to occur
Minor (includes minor cuts and bruises, irritation, ill-health with
temporary discomfort
Occasional Possible or known to occur

Injury requiring medical treatment or ill-health leading to

Moderate disability (includes lacerations, burns, sprains, minor Frequent Common or repeating occurance
fractures, dermatitis, deafness)

Fatal, serious injury or life-threatening occupational disease

Major (includes amputations, major fractures, multiple injuries,
occupational cancer, acute poisoning and fatal diseases) Likelihood

Determine Risk

Severity Likelihood
Severity
Remote Occasional Frequent

Minor Low Risk Low Risk Medium Risk

Moderate Low Risk Medium Risk High Risk

Example:
If the consequence of a hazard is Major Medium Risk High Risk High Risk
identified to have moderate severity
and occasional likelihood, the risk
level may be determined to be 1 HAZARD 2 RISK 3 RISK
medium. IDENTIFICATION EVALUATION CONTROL
 STEP 3: Risk Control

How to establish methods of eliminating or reducing the risks?

Based on the risk level determined in STEP 2, risk controls should be selected to reduce or confine the risk level to an acceptable level. The
following table suggests the acceptability of risk for different risk levels.

Risk Level Acceptability of Risk

Low Acceptable
Medium Moderately Acceptable
High Not Acceptable

In order to prioritise the risk controls adequately, the formulation of such risk controls may take into consideration the relative risk levels of the
different hazards and the cost and benefit of the controls. The residual risk after the implementation of the controls should also be evaluated.

Reasonably practicable measures must be taken to maintain the risk level within the acceptable range. It is essential for risks to be
eliminated or reduced ‘at source’. If the risk level is high, work cannot commence until the risk level is reduced to the medium level.

What risk control methods are there?

Methods to control risks may be analysed according to the Hierarchy of Controls: Elimination, Substitution, Engineering Controls,
Administrative Controls and Personal Protective Equipment. Elimination of the hazard should take first priority while personal protective
equipment should be the last line of defence.

Following is an example of the possible control measures applicable to a spray painting activity.

1 HAZARD 2 RISK 3 RISK

IDENTIFICATION EVALUATION CONTROL
 WORK
ACTIVITY HAZARD POSSIBLE CONTROL MEASURES HIERARCHY OF CONTROLS

Spray Inhalation of Alter the process plan so that the article does not need
Painting toxic vapours to be spray painted. Colour the article using a different Elimination
of Article method. For example using pre-coloured materials

Replace the harmful components of the spray painting Substitution

chemicals with non-toxic chemicals

Use automated machines to carry out spray painting. Engineering

Enclose the article to be spray-painted. Controls

Train workers on the hazards of spray painting and Administrative

assigned competent persons to carry out the work Controls
activity.

Provide approved and adequate PPE for the spray Personal

painting activity. Respirators must be fit-tested and Protective
workers must be trained to use them correctly. Equipment

1 HAZARD 2 RISK 3 RISK

IDENTIFICATION EVALUATION CONTROL
Part 3: Risk Assessment as a Component of Risk Management

Risk assessment, when carried out appropriately, will allow better understanding of the risks at the workplace and their control measures. It is
a key component of Risk Management. Besides Risk Assessment, Risk Management also consists of other components such as
Communication, Record Keeping and Implementation and Review. Together they form the Risk Management Process. A schematic diagram
of the Risk Management Process is illustrated below:

COMMUNICATION

1 2 3 4 5 6
Preparation Hazard Risk Risk Record Implementation
Identification Evaluation Control Keeping & Review

Æ Form RA Æ Identify Æ Estimate risk Æ Formulate Æ Keep risk Æ Review risk

Team hazards levels based control assessme assessments:
Æ Gather Æ Identify on identified measures nt reports • Once every 3
relevant potential hazards. according to for at least years;
information accidents / Æ Prioritise the the Hierarchy 3 years. • Whenever new
incidents hazards to be of Controls: information on
controlled • Elimination OSH risks
• Substitution surfaces;
• Engineering • When there are
controls changes to work
• Administrative processes and /
controls or;
• PPE • After any
Æ Analyse and accident/incident.
evaluate
residual risk
Risk Assessment (RA)