7. I can't take the risk!
• You can & do (every day), we all take risks,
walking down stairs, crossing roads, driving,
cooking
• We manage risks by using our judgment,
experience & following guidance where
necessary
• A risk assessment (RA) is simply a record that
people have considered the risks & prepared for
them
8. Keeping it in perspective
• Living is dangerous - there is risk even when
asleep, but from the moment we wake the risk
increases
• In Britain every year, 20 people are electrocuted
by bedside lights /alarm clocks; 20 killed falling
whilst getting out of bed; 30 drown in the bath;
60 are seriously injured putting on socks; 600
die from falling down stairs
• To make the world safe we have to remove
baths, socks & stairs. Zero risk is not a
meaningful option, because zero in this case
can only be obtained by not doing anything at
all.
9.
10. Managing Risk
‘I’ve been doing this for Sensibly ‘It’s not worth the risk’
twenty years without a
hitch’ Reasonably Practicable ‘Where do you stop?’
‘Someone else should Foreseeable ‘You have to risk
do this’ assess everything’
Suitable and Sufficient
Focus on Significant
Hazards
‘Duty of Care’
Apathy Paranoia
Not ‘Life’ Risks
Simple
Efficient
Cost Effective
Good Practice
No consideration Overkill
‘We’ve done the best we
Common Sense
can’
‘We can always review
and improve this’
11. Active risk management
• Involve clients & staff
• Managing rather than eliminating risks
• Guides / coaches with appropriate training &
experience should feel confident in using their
judgement
• Flexibility in format
12.
13. Sensible risk management IS about
• Ensuring clients, workers & ‘others’ are
properly protected
• Providing overall benefit by balancing benefits
& risks, with a focus on controlling real risks -
either those which arise most often or those
with the most serious consequences
• Enabling innovation & learning not stifling them
14. • Ensuring that those who create risks manage
them responsibly & understand that failure to
manage serious risks responsibly is likely to
lead to robust action
• Enabling individuals to understand that as well
as the right to protection, they also have to
exercise responsibility
HSE June 2006
15. It IS NOT about
• Creating a totally risk free society
• Generating useless paperwork
• Scaring people by exaggerating / publicising
trivial risks
• Stopping recreational or learning activities for
individuals where the risks are managed
HSE June 2006
16. What is Risk Assessment?
A RA should usually involve identifying the
hazards present in any undertaking (whether
arising from work activities or from other
factors, e.g. the layout of the premises) &
then evaluating the extent of the risks
involved, taking into account whatever
precautions are already been taken’
17. What is RA?
• A RA is nothing more than a careful
examination of what in the workplace could
cause harm
• It is a formal exercise required by law, where
the employer has to identify the risks to
employees & others associated with their
business activities
• It is about identifying what might go wrong,
prioritising the possibilities & implementing
control measures to prevent them from
occurring
18. Risk Assessment
• Suitable & sufficient
• Identify significant risks arising out of work
activities
• Enable identification & prioritisation of the
measures needed to comply with H & S
legislation
• Be appropriate to the work activities
• Remain valid for a reasonable time period
19. Stages involved in RA
• Identification of hazards
• Identification of people at risk
• Evaluation of the risk
• Selection of additional control measures
• Information & training
• Record
• Monitoring & review
21. Definition of an Accident (ROSPA)
‘ an unplanned & uncontrolled event, which has
led to, or could have caused injury to persons,
damage to plant or other loss’
22. Distinction between ‘accident’ &
‘injury’
A major difficulty in accident prevention is that
‘accident’ and ‘injury’ has come to mean one & the
same thing. It is important to distinguish the two –
an injury is the result of an accident
Many accidents occur which have the potential to
cause injury but do not
25. Weather Plants
Wind Moving vehicles
Cold *Slippery ground
Sun Water quality
Cold , deep water Barbed wire
fence Electric
Fast flowing water
fence Steep
Stranger danger
banks Other
*Uneven ground water users
*Wet ground Anglers
Moving lures *Uneven river bed
Animals *Soft river bed
Insects Light quality
Fish
* Often grouped as STF
26. Definition of Risk
is the likelihood or probability that
a hazard will cause actual harm
29. Risk assessment must be
• Simple
• Manageable
• Proportional
• Suitable
• RA is a process, what you do is more important
You should have a clear system of support documents
31. Reducing Risks
• Employ / use experienced & competent
Guides
• Substitute actual high risk for perceived risk
• Use alternative method(s)
• Separate people from the risk
• Reduce the period of exposure to the risk
32. • Increase training & qualification of guides
• Apply stricter supervision ratios
• Improve your briefings
• Provide PPE
• Discontinue the activity
33.
34. Top Tips
• Think of RA’s as the minutes of a meeting
where issues regarding safety were raised &
discussed
• It is the discussion & sharing of ideas,
experience & knowledge which will enhance
safety & reduce risk – not the piece of paper
• Keep it proportional
• Include yourself in ‘who might be harmed’
35. • Use Generic RA’s carefully- it may be best
to write your specific RA from scratch, then
use the generic to check if you’ve left
anything major out
• Don’t let your RA’s become static – review
them regularly or ‘as required’
• Use other peoples’ accidents as a ‘near
miss’ for your client / groups & revisit your
RA’s – anything to change or add?
36. • There is no ‘right way’ to do RA’s. A dozen
different RA’s could be done for one activity &
they could all be equally valid
• Most accidents occur on activities considered
to be the lowest risk
• It’s not what you write which drives safety, it’s
what you do. Merely writing a RA will not
protect people from harm. It is the operating
procedure that comes out of RA that is
important.
39. RA in practice
• Prior to commencing thorough preparation is
necessary
• Brief all personnel involved
• Ensuring risk assessors are competent
40. Priorities in Prevention
• Avoid a risk altogether
• Combat risks at source
• Adapt work to the individual
• Give priority to those measures which protect
the whole workplace
• Ensure everyone involved knows what they are
expected to do
• An active Health & Safety culture
41. Record RA
• Practical
• Use own format
• Sub group exercise at suitable location
• Share results
