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Construction Occupational Safety and Health (COSH 413) Unit 3 Module: Risk Assessment Objectives: 1. Understand the Principles of Risk Assessment 2. Comprehend the legal requirements related to risk assessment 3. Interpret and Utilize Risk Assessment Results 4. Conduct Effective Risk Assessments 5. Familiarize to various types of occupational hazards Content: 3.1. Introduction Risk assessment is an essential part of the planning stage of any health and safety management system. The aim of the planning process is to minimize risks. Risk assessment methods are used to decide on priorities and to set objectives for eliminating hazards and reducing risks. Wherever possible, risks are eliminated through selection and design of facilities, equipment and processes. If risks cannot be eliminated, they are minimized by the use of physical controls or, as a last resort, through systems of work and personal protective equipment. 3.2. Legal Aspects of Risk Assessment The general duties of employers to their employees in section 2 of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 imply the need for risk assessment. This duty was also extended by section 3 of the Act to anybody else affected by activities of the employer – contractors, visitors, customers or members of the public. However, the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations are much more specific concerning the need for risk assessment. The following requirements are laid down in those regulations:  the risk assessment shall be ‘suitable and sufficient’ and cover both employees and non- employees affected by the employer’s undertaking (e.g. contractors, members of the public, students, patients, customers, etc.)  every self-employed person shall make a ‘suitable and sufficient’ assessment of the risks to which they or those affected by the undertaking may be exposed  any risk assessment shall be reviewed if there is reason to suspect that it is no longer valid or if a significant change has taken place; where there are more than four employees, the significant findings of the assessment shall be recorded and any specially at risk group of employees identified. (This does not mean that employers with four or less employees need not undertake risk assessments.)
The term ‘suitable and sufficient’ is important since it defines the limits to the risk assessment process. A suitable and sufficient risk assessment should:  identify the significant risks and ignore the trivial ones  identify and prioritize the measures required to comply with any relevant statutory provisions  remain appropriate to the nature of the work and valid over a reasonable period of time. When assessing risks under the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations, reference to other regulations may be necessary even if there is no specific requirement for a risk assessment in those regulations. For example, reference to the legal requirements of the Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations will be necessary when risks from the operation of machinery are being considered. However, there is no need to repeat a risk assessment if it is already covered by other regulations (e.g. a risk assessment involving personal protective equipment is required under the COSHH Regulations so there is no need to undertake a separate risk assessment under the Personal Protective Equipment Regulations). Apart from the duty under the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations to undertake a health and safety risk assessment of any person (employees, contractors or members of the public), who may be affected by the activities of the organization, the following regulations require a specific risk assessment to be made: ➤ Ionising Radiation Regulations ➤ Control of Asbestos Regulations ➤ The Control of Noise at Work Regulations ➤ Manual Handling Operations Regulations ➤ Health and Safety (Display Screen Equipment) Regulations ➤ The Personal Protective Equipment at Work Regulations ➤ The Confined Spaces Regulations ➤ Work at Height Regulations ➤ The Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order ➤ The Control of Vibration at Work Regulations ➤ Control of Lead at Work Regulations ➤ Control of Substances Hazardous to Health Regulations. 3.3. Forms of Risk Assessment There are two basic forms of risk assessment: A quantitative risk assessment attempts to measure the risk by relating the probability of the risk occurring to the possible severity of the outcome and then giving the risk a numerical value. This method of risk assessment is used in situations where a malfunction could be very serious (e.g. aircraft design and maintenance or the petrochemical industry).
The more common form of risk assessment is the qualitative assessment, which is based purely on personal judgement and is normally defined as high, medium or low. Qualitative risk assessments are usually satisfactory since the definition (high, medium or low) is normally used to determine the time frame in which further action is to be taken. 3.4. Definition of Terms Hazard and risk A hazard is the potential of a substance, activity or process to cause harm. Hazards take many forms including, for example, chemicals, electricity and the use of a ladder. A hazard can be ranked relative to other hazards or to a possible level of danger. A risk is the likelihood of a substance, activity or process to cause harm. Risk (or strictly the level of risk) is also linked to the severity of its consequences. A risk can be reduced and the hazard controlled by good management. It is very important to distinguish between a hazard and a risk – the two terms are often confused and activities often called high risk are in fact high hazard. There should only be high residual risk where there is poor health and safety management and inadequate control measures. Occupational or work-related ill-health This is concerned with those illnesses or physical and mental disorders that are either caused or triggered by workplace activities. Such conditions may be induced by the particular work activity of the individual or by activities of others in the workplace. The time interval between exposure and the onset of the illness may be short (e.g. asthma attacks) or long (e.g. deafness or cancer). Accident This is defined by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) as ‘any unplanned event that results in injury or ill-health of people, or damage or loss to property, plant, materials or the environment or a loss of a business opportunity’. Other authorities define an accident more narrowly by excluding events that do not involve injury or ill-health. Near miss This is any incident that could have resulted in an accident. Knowledge of near misses is very important since research has shown that, approximately, for every 10 ‘near miss’ events at a particular location in the workplace, a minor accident will occur. Dangerous occurrence Figure 5.1 Illustrative example of the difference between hazard and risk