Section APrinciples of Risk Assessment for Maintaining and Improving Health and Safety at Work

Building Faculty2014

What is Risk Assessment?

A risk assessment is 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.

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Workers and others have a

right to be protected from

harm caused by a failure to

take reasonable control

measures.

Hazard or Risk?

Before considering risk assessments it is important to be able to identify the difference

between a hazard and a risk.

A hazard is anything that may cause harm such as

chemicals, electricity, working from height or

machineryA risk is the chance, high or low that someone could be

harmed by a hazard together with an indication

of how serious the harm could be.

The Five Steps to Risk AssessmentThe responsibility for completing risk assessments and method statements is outlined in the

Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations.

The Health and Safety Executive propose five steps to effective risk assessment

Method Statements

A method statement communicates a safe system of work for operatives to follow when

completing a task. It is normally written and should be agreed upon before work commences.

You have a responsibility to highlight to your supervisor any suggested improvements to the

method statement.

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What is RIDDOR?

The Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations 2013 (RIDDOR)

outline legal requirements for reporting deaths, injuries, occupational diseases and dangerous

occurrences to the Health and Safety Executive or Local Authority, so that they can identify

where and how risks arise and try to stop them from happening again.

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What is RIDDOR?

The regulations are made under the Health

and Safety at Work Act 1974. The main

purpose of the regulations is to generate

reports to the Health and Safety Executive

(HSE) and to local authorities. This allows

individual incidents and trends to be

examined so that authorities can develop

strategies to prevent future injuries and ill

health.

Accident Reporting

An accident is defined as a

separate, identifiable, unintended

incident that causes physical injury.

If you are involved in an accident in

the workplace you, or a responsible

person acting on your behalf should

record details of the accident in the

accident report book. This book

should be held in the site office.

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Accident Reporting

Certain accidents must be reported to

the Health and Safety Executive. If you

are involved in a near-miss accident,

which could be an incident where

someone has narrowly avoided injury,

it may not be formally reportable but

it is still important that you record it

to avoid the likelihood of it

happening again.

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Causes of Death

Fortunately we have been able to reduce the number of deaths within the construction industry in

recent years but most deaths are avoidable which means there are still a range of measures we

can take to reduce the likelihood of them happening again. There were 39 fatal injuries to

construction workers in 2013. The causes of these deaths is shown in the table above.

Falls

Being struck by a falling or moving object

A collapse or overturn

Being hit by a moving vehicle

Electricity

Other or unconfirmed

Causes of Injury

The number of major injuries reported over the last year has also fallen. There were 1913 major

injuries to construction workers in 2013. Many of these injuries were also avoidable and through

careful planning and the adoption of safe systems of work we can further reduce the number of

construction workers injured each year. The most common causes of major injuries are shown in

the table above.

Falls

Slips, trips and falls on the level

Being struck by moving or falling objects

Handling

Fire Safety

Fire safety is an important consideration

within the construction industry. Safe

systems of work should be adopted at all

times to ensure the likelihood of a fire

starting is minimised. For example,

combustible fuel should be separated

from other materials and stored in a

location where it cannot be exposed to

any source of ignition.

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Electrical Safety

Electrical safety is important when on a construction site. Hand held power tools should be properly inspected and maintained to reduce the risk of electrocution. If you are unsure of

where the electrical supply is located or are concerned that you may come into contact with an electrical supply, a Cable Avoidance Tools (CAT) can be used to detect the path or location of a

power supply(the hazard).

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Manual Handling

A common cause of back injuries in the construction is poor manual handling practices. Many of

the materials used within the industry are bulky and there are often obstacles to navigate. You

should make every effort to adopt a safe system of work when manual handling and follow the

three principles of avoid, reduce and assess.

Competent Person

An operative who is experienced and qualified to carry out work is known as a competent person.

You should never be expected to carry out work unless you are fully aware of the safe systems of

work and the risks and hazards associated with the works. When you are training as an apprentice

you would be expected to be supervised by a competent person.

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Disposing Hazardous Waste

Hazardous waste should always be disposed of in accordance with the site waste disposal rules.

This ensures that you protect against contaminants entering the draining/water system and that

you do not place anyone else at harm from the waste.