7.4 Risk assessment
Because hazards vary with work and situation each individual needs to be aware of where there's a risk, and to stop and critically assess the risk. Every employee must be able to think about what they are doing or about to do, and determine not just their own risks, but also the risk to other people. Once hazards have been identified you need to then assess the risk ie. the likelihood of an injury or illness occurring from exposure to the hazard. When assessing risk there are two questions that need to be answered:
How likely is it that an accident will occur?
If an accident does occur how severe would the consequences be?
Activity 1
Undertake a risk assessment of three activities compelted within your operational area. In your assessment consider:
- What is the nature of the risk?
- How likely is it that an accident will occur?
- If an accident does occur how severe would the consequences be?
If an accident is highly unlikely to occur then the risk will require less monitoring and evaluation. A situation where there is a high probability of an accident occurring obviously requires far greater attention. For example accidents involving forklifts are much more frequent in warehouses without designated forklift only spaces.
Even if there is a high risk of an accident occurring in a workplace it does not necessarily mean that immediate action is required. If the consequences of an accident are only small then there is less risk. For instance, if a particular lift had a habit of making people feel a bit strange when it stopped at a floor then there is less risk associated with this situation. However if a particular lift had a habit of collapsing when it got above the fifth floor then there is much greater risk.
The severity of a risk can be classified as:
- Minor injury with no time off work.
- An injury/illness resulting in time off work.
- An injury/illness causing a permanent disability or loss of body part or bodily function.
- An injury/illness that could cause death.
The relationship between the probability of an accident occurring and the severity of the consequences of an accident is depicted in the diagram below. From the diagram you may note that even when there is a high probability of an accident occurring, or when the consequences of an accident occurring are severe, it is not always necessary to take action.
Figure 5 Probability of accident and action prioritisation
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