Monitoring and reviewing H&S risk assessments
How health and safety risk assessments are monitored and reviewed
So you've conducted a health and safety assessment of your workplace and created a health and safety policy for the business. You're entitled to feel relieved; pleased that you've done all you need to comply with the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 (HASAWA).
But of course life is never that simple. It's essential to not just make an assessment, but to keep the assessment up to date. That means constant monitoring and regular reviews, because if something significant has changed since the assessment, it may no longer be valid.
Reviewing your risk assessment is one of the best ways to monitor your health and safety procedures. Not reviewing or updating the assessment can put your people at risk new workplace hazards, as well as leave the business vulnerable to serious legal problems.
When should a Risk Assessment be Reviewed?
New recruits
If someone has joined the business since the assessment, they'll be less familiar with processes, procedures and the environment, which changes the level of risk as originally assessed - even if they've undergone full training.
New equipment or space
Replacing an existing piece of equipment or machinery, introducing something new or opening up a new part of your premises? At very least this means considering whether a risk reassessment is necessary. New elements within any workplace can bring serious hazards, especially when new machinery requires thorough staff training prior to operation.
Environment Changes
Changes to the environment are also a reason to review your risk assessments. Whether it be that your business has changed premises or you have moved around machinery and furniture, this can impact on your existing safety procedures. As such reviewing your risk assessment when the work environment changes is crucial.
An accident or incident
If an accident or health and safety related incident takes place, it's a sign that the risk controls in place have somehow fallen short. Cue for an immediate rethink and a careful analysis of what went wrong and why. It’s wise to define "incident" in the widest possible terms for these purposes.
Has there been a "near miss", an accident that could have happened but didn't? Or did something relatively minor happen that could have been much more serious? The focus of the reassessment is "how can we prevent this happening in the future, could it have been worse, and what needs to change?". Even these near-miss and minor incidents can suggest weaknesses in prior risk assessments, or that staff need to be refreshed on best practice so they can remain safe. This may also mean talking to health and safety experts, such as the Phoenix team, to be sure about where you stand legally.
Listen to your people
Senior management is often slightly out of touch from the everyday reality of a workplace. As a result, the people on the shop floor are likely to be the first to notice a potential health and safety problem or an increase in risk levels. A blocked fire exit or some exposed wiring for example. Is there a glitch in a process or a machine on the blink? Is a member of the workforce under stress or suffering from a work-related health problem? Management are often the last people to know.
Asking the right questions, encouraging a culture in which everything can be discussed, and listening carefully and sympathetically to concerns is crucial - and many of the higher level courses available from Phoenix are about creating the right culture rather just knowing the rules. If it can prevent someone coming to harm, or avoid a major financial loss to the business, that has to be worthwhile.
Regulations and laws change all the time
Even minor additions to or rewording of the many health and safety laws and regulations can mean you need to reassess risk and change your health and safety policy. And such changes are anything but infrequent. Having experts such as the Phoenix team on hand to alert you can make all the difference.
Review regularly even if nothing has changed or gone wrong
Most organisations run on a cycle of annual reviews - salaries, staff performance etc. So why not schedule risk assessment reviews in the same way? As Queen Elizabeth I reputedly said about baths "I have one every year whether I need it or not".