What The Service Involves
A health and safety risk assessment examines the tasks people actually carry out and the ways those tasks could cause harm. We consider employees, visiting contractors, delivery drivers and other people affected by the operation, then look at how existing precautions work in practice.
For a warehouse, the starting point might be vehicle movements, loading bays and pedestrian crossings. An office assessment may focus on access, workstations, lone working and maintenance arrangements. A school or workshop needs a different discussion, because the activities, users and supervision arrangements change the risks.
The output should explain the significant hazards, who could be harmed, existing controls and further action. A risk matrix can support prioritisation, but a number in a coloured box is not a control measure. Managers need to know who owns an action, when it is due and what evidence will show it has been completed.
When To Ask For Support
Ask for an assessment when you take on new commercial premises, introduce equipment, change a production process or discover that an existing document no longer describes the work. An accident, near miss or worker concern can also reveal an issue that deserves a fresh look.
Do not wait for a tender or inspection before addressing an uncontrolled hazard. If there is a serious immediate risk, restrict the activity and put suitable precautions in place while advice is arranged. A future appointment does not make an unsafe task acceptable today.
Relevant UK Duties And Guidance
The Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999 require employers to make a suitable and sufficient assessment of risks to employees and others affected by their work. The Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 provides the wider framework of duties.
Employers with five or more employees must record significant findings and groups especially at risk. The duty to assess and control risks also applies below that threshold. There is no universal legal requirement to replace every assessment on an annual date, but assessments need review when they may no longer be valid or significant changes occur.
What We Look At
We ask workers to describe normal work, cleaning, breakdowns and unusual tasks. Watching only an orderly production run can miss the circumstances where people bypass safeguards or improvise access.
Controls should start with removing a hazard where possible, then reducing exposure through the way the task is designed and managed. PPE may still be needed, but relying on it alone can leave the source of risk untouched. The agreed record should identify any specialist assessment or measurement needed beyond the initial visit.
How The Work Progresses
First, describe the activities, location and purpose of the enquiry. We agree the boundaries of the work and identify documents, access arrangements and people needed for a useful review.
Next, the agreed evidence is examined and any gaps are discussed with the responsible manager. Findings should separate urgent control issues from planned improvements, with assumptions and limitations stated clearly.
Finally, you receive the agreed output and decide who will carry out each action. Review the arrangements when conditions change and check that the controls are understood by the people doing the work.
What You Receive
A task-based assessment register, significant findings, prioritised control actions and agreed review triggers.
What Affects The Cost
The number of distinct tasks, shift patterns, machinery, access restrictions and availability of existing records influence the scope. Multiple similar workstations may be assessed as a group only where the conditions and risks genuinely match.
Questions About This Service
How Often Should Risk Assessments Be Reviewed?
Risk assessments should be reviewed when they may no longer be valid or when significant changes affect the work. Changes in equipment, staffing, substances or layout can all matter. Set a sensible scheduled review as well, but do not use that date as a reason to ignore an incident or a newly identified hazard.
What Should We Prepare For A Site Visit?
For a health and safety site visit, gather relevant assessments, your policy, training records, recent incident information and outstanding actions. Arrange access to the activities being reviewed and someone who can explain how they operate. Identify shift or security restrictions beforehand, and tell us about hazards or protective equipment requirements that affect access.
For the wider consultancy service, return to health and safety consultants Manchester.