Risk Assessment

Risk assessment is an important step in protecting your workers and your business, as well as complying with the law. It helps you focus on the risks that really matter in your workplace – the ones with the potential to cause real harm or loss. In many instances, straightforward measures can readily control risks, for example, ensuring spillages are cleaned up promptly so people do not slip, or theft of stock is minimised. For most, that means simple, cheap and effective measures to ensure your most valuable asset – your workforce and assets– is protected.

The law does not expect you to eliminate all risks, but you are required to protect people as far as ‘reasonably practicable’.

This is not the only way to do a risk assessment, there are other methods that work well, particularly for more complex risks and circumstances.

A risk assessment is simply a careful examination of what in your work could cause harm to people, or harm your business, so that you can weigh up whether you have taken enough precautions or should do more to prevent harm.

Accidents and ill-health can ruin lives and affect your business too if output is lost, machinery is damaged, insurance costs increase, or you must go to court. You are legally required to assess the risks in your workplace so that you put in place a plan to control the risks.