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This Scottish Clay Target Association Limited (SCTA) "Health and Safety Policy" document is issued only for the guidance of affiliated Grounds and Members with a view to assisting and encouraging the maintenance of a safe clay target shooting environment. It must not be considered as a definitive interpretation of the "Health and Safety" legislation. It is specifically incumbent on every Affiliated Ground and Member involved in the management of any clay target shooting event to be fully aware of the legislation as it applies in their particular circumstance. Grounds and Members must seek the necessary professional advice and the SCTA assumes no responsibility in this regard. FIVE STEPS to RISK ASSESSMENT Contents
How to assess the risks in your workplace
Introduction This leaflet aims to help employers and self-employed people to assess risks in the work-place. It is aimed at firms in the commercial, service and light industrial sectors. What is risk assessment? A risk assessment is nothing more than a careful examination of what, in your work, could cause harm to people, so that you can weigh up whether you have taken enough precautions or should do more to prevent harm. The aim is to make sure that no one gets hurt or becomes ill. Accidents and ill health can ruin lives, and affect your business too if output is lost, machinery is damaged, insurance costs increase, or you have to go to court. You are legally required to assess the risks in your workplace. The important things you need to decide are whether a hazard is significant, and whether you have it covered by satisfactory precautions so that the risk is small. You need to check this when you assess the risks. For instance, electricity can kill but the risk of it doing so in an office environment is remote, provided that live' components are insulated and metal casings properly earthed.
How to assess the risks in your workplace Follow the five steps in this leaflet: • STEP 1: Look for the hazards • STEP 2: Decide who might be harmed and how • STEP 3: Evaluate the risks and decide whether the existing precautions are adequate Or whether more should be done • STEP 4: Record your findings • STEP 5: Review your assessment and revise it if necessary Don't be overcomplicated. In most firms in the commercial, service and light industrial sectors, the hazards are few and simple. Checking them is common sense, but necessary. You probably already know whether, for example, you have machinery that could cause harm, or if there is an awkward entrance or stair where someone could be hurt. If so, check that you have taken what reasonable precautions you can to avoid injury. If you are a small firm and you are confident you understand what’s involved, you can do the assessment yourself (you don't have to be a health and safety expert!). If you are a larger firm, you could ask a responsible employee, safety representative or safety officer to help you. If you are not confident, get help from a competent source (see under 'Getting help). But remember -you are responsible for seeing it is adequately done. Hazard and Risk - don't let words in this guide put you off! Hazard means any-thing that can cause harm (eg chemicals, electricity, working from ladders, etc). Risk is the chance, high or low, that somebody will be harmed by the hazard. STEP 1 - Look for the hazards If you are doing the assessment yourself, walk around your workplace and look afresh at what could reasonably be expected to cause harm. Ignore the trivial and concentrate on significant hazards that could result in serious harm or affect several people. Ask your employees or their representatives what they think. They may have noticed things which are not immediately obvious. Manufacturers' instructions or data sheets can also help you spot hazards and put risks in their true perspective. So can accident and ill-health records. STEP 2 - Decide who might be harmed, and how Don't forget:
STEP 3 - Evaluating Evaluate the risks and decide whether existing precautions are adequate or more should be done. Consider how likely it is that each hazard could cause harm. This will determine whether or not you need to do more to reduce the risk. Even after all precautions have been taken, some risk usually remains. What you have to decide for each significant hazard is whether this remaining risk is high, medium or low. First, ask yourself whether you have done all the things that the law says you have got to do. For example, there are legal requirements on prevention of access to dangerous parts of machinery. Then ask yourself whether generally accepted industry standards are in place. But don't stop there - think for yourself, because the law also says that you must do what is reasonably practicable to keep your workplace safe. Your real aim is to make all risks small by adding to your precautions as necessary. If you find that something needs to be done, draw up an 'action list' and give priority to any remaining risks which are high and/or those which could affect most people. In taking action ask yourself: a. can I get rid of the hazard altogether? b. if not, how can I control the risks so that harm is unlikely? In controlling risks apply the principles below, if possible in the following order:
Improving health and safety need not cost a lot. For instance, placing a mirror on a dangerous blind corner to help prevent vehicle accidents, or putting some non-slip material on slippery steps, are inexpensive precautions considering the risks. And failure to take simple precautions can cost you a lot more if an accident does happen. But what if the work you do tends to vary a lot, or you or your employees move from one site to another? Identify the hazards you can reasonably expect and assess the risks from them. After that, if you spot any additional hazards when you get to a site, get information from others on site, and take what action seems necessary. But what if you share a work-place? Tell the other employers and self-employed people there about any risks your work could cause them, and what precautions you are taking. Also, think about the risks to your own work-force from those who share your workplace. But what if you have already assessed some of the risks? If, for example, you use hazardous chemicals and you have already assessed the risks to health and the precautions you need to take under the Control of Substances Hazardous to Health Regulations (COSHH), you can consider them 'checked' and move on. More information about legal requirements and standards can be found in the HSE publications An Introduction to Health and Safety, Essentials of Health and Safety and Management of Health and Safety at Work: Approved Code of Practice. Details of these are given later. STEP 4 - Record your findings This means writing down the significant hazards and conclusions. Examples might be “Electrical installations: ‘insulation’ and 釪rth’ checked and found ‘sound' or 'Fume from welding: local exhaust ventilation provided and regularly checked”. You must also tell your employees about your findings. Suitable and sufficient - not perfect! Risk assessments must be suitable and sufficient. You need to be able to show that:
Keep the written record for future reference or use; it can help you if an inspector asks what precautions you have taken, or if you become involved in any action for civil liability. It can also remind you to keep an eye on particular hazards and precautions. It also helps to show that you have done what the law requires. There is an example at the end of this guide which you may find helpful to refer to, but you can make up your own form if you prefer. To make things simpler, you can refer to other documents, such as manuals, the arrangements in your health and safety policy statement, company rules, manufacturers' instructions, your health and safety procedures and your arrangements for general fire safety. These may already list hazards and precautions. You don't need to repeat all that, and it is up to you whether you combine all the documents, or keep them separately. STEP 5 - Review your assessment and revise it if necessary Sooner or later you will bring in new machines, substances and procedures which could lead to new hazards. If there is any significant change, add to the assessment to take account of the new hazard. Don't amend your assessment for every trivial change, or still more, for each new job, but if a new job introduces significant new hazards of its own, you will want to consider them in their own right and do whatever you need to keep the risks down. In any case, it is good practice to review your assessment from time to time to make sure that the precautions are still working effectively. APPENDIX--CHECK LISTS STEP 1 Hazard Look only for hazards which you could reasonably expect to result in significant harm under the conditions in your workplace. Use the following examples as a guide * slipping/tripping hazards (eg poorly maintained floors or stairs) * fire (eg from flammable materials) * chemicals (eg battery acid) * moving parts of machinery (eg blades) * work at height (eg from mezzanine floors) * ejection of material (eg from plastic moulding) * pressure systems (eg steam boilers) * vehicles (eg fork-lift trucks) * electricity (eg poor wiring) * dust (eg from grinding) * fumes (eg welding) * manual handling * noise * poor lighting * low temperature STEP 2 Who might be harmed? There is no need to list individuals by name - just think about groups of people doing similar work or who may be affected, eg * office staff * maintenance personnel * contractors * people sharing your workplace * operators * cleaners 'members of the public Pay particular attention to: * staff with disabilities * visitors * inexperienced staff * lone workers They may be more vulnerable STEP 3 Is more needed to control the risk? For the hazards listed, do the precautions already taken: * meet the standards set by a legal requirement? * comply with a recognised industry standard? * represent good practice? * reduce risk as far as reasonably practicable? Have you provided: * adequate information, instruction or training? * adequate systems or procedures? If so, then the risks are adequately controlled, but you need to indicate the precautions you have in place. (You may refer to procedures, company rules, etc.). Where the risk is not adequately controlled, indicate what more you need to do (the 'action list') STEP 4 - Record your findings Simply ensure that you describe the events in as much detail as possible. If keeping an electronic copy make sure that it is secured with a password. STEP 5 Review and revision Set a date for review of the assessment. On review check that the precautions for each hazard still adequately control the risk. If not indicate the action needed. Note the outcome. If necessary complete a new page for your risk assessment. Making changes in your workplace, eg when bringing in new
may introduce significant new hazards. Look for them and follow the 5 steps. The SCTA acknowledge the assistance of the Health and Safety Executive in the production of this document. |