DIT HEALTH AND SAFETY OFFICE

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1 DIT HEALTH AND SAFETY OFFICE PROCEDURE TITLE Risk Assessment Procedure REVISION NO.: 5 NUMBER OF PAGES: 8 REFERENCE: Parent Health and Safety Statement Risk Assessment Template (DITRAT) Safety Inspection Procedure & Checklist Plant Inspection Checklist DATE OF ISSUE: May 2009 PROCEDURE This document outlines the procedure to be followed when performing a risk assessment. Definitions Hazard The ability, nature or property of a substance or situation which has the potential to cause harm in terms of human injury, ill health or damage to property or the environment. Risk The combination of the likelihood and consequence of the hazard occurring. Risk Assessment Procedure Heads of Faculty/Function will ensure that periodic risk assessments are completed, taking account of all activities/areas related to their College/Function. All risk assessments must be written and documented using the standard template (DITRAT) in accordance with safety legislation. The annual review of risk assessments should take place prior to commencement of the new academic year/semester. The risk assessment process should not delay remedial measures or prevent immediate action during the process. This is especially important if there is a risk of serious injury or illness. 1

2 Where in the opinion of the Health and Safety Officer, or other competent person, there is a risk of serious injury to personnel, he/she will have the authority to advise that process is stopped until adequate steps have been taken to eliminate the risk. Where the risk cannot be reduced to acceptable levels and departmental or risk reduction finance is not available, the Head of Function shall require the function to cease. As part of hazard identification, an assessment of the risk associated with each hazard should be conducted. A risk assessment should also be conducted when new information about a hazard is received or whenever there is a change in legislation or the workplace (e.g. change in work practices & systems of work, new equipment, new personnel). Depending on the nature of the hazard, the risk assessment process will vary from straightforward visual inspection of the workplace, through to formal quantitative assessment for high risk situations. In general, the risk assessment will involve one or more of the following: o Visual inspection/safety inspection o Audit o Test o Technical or scientific evaluation o Analysis of injury/incident data o Discussion with designer, manufacturer, supplier, employees or other relevant parties. o Quantitative assessment using a risk matrix. The main factors that need to be considered are: The nature of the hazard The likelihood (probability) of exposure Frequency and duration of exposure Number exposed Consequence of exposure-worst likely outcome. It is recommended that a safety inspection of the area is conducted prior to the risk assessment, so that minor issues are dealt with immediately. This will also assist with the hazard identification process. The procedure and checklist for this may be found in the Parent Health and Safety Statement. Responsibilities for Risk Assessments The risk assessment should involve those who are responsible for and/or most likely to be affected by the hazard. In-house expertise and information on the process/activities are critical to risk assessment completion. This may include the area supervisor, lecturer, technician, safety representative, health and safety committee member, postgraduate student etc. The College/Function Director will co-ordinate the risk assessment group. Person(s) conducting the risk assessment shall consult with those affected. The Health and Safety Office will provide an initial introduction to risk assessment techniques and will be available to advise all College/Functions on the process. 2

3 Steps to Risk Assessment Step 1 Look at the Hazards Hazards to health can be broad grouped into 5 categories: 1. Chemical 2. Physical 3. Biological 4. Fire 5. Human Factors. As part of the hazard identification step, the safety inspection checklist and the plant inspection checklist should be used to assist in the hazard identification process. All hazards should be listed and referenced on the standard template (DITRAT DIT Risk Assessment Template). Step 2- Decide who might be harmed and how Lecturers Students - undergraduate, postgraduate, apprentice, junior Office staff Maintenance Personnel Contractors People sharing the workplace Operators Cleaners Members of the public Staff with disabilities and students Visitors Inexperienced staff, young workers Lone workers Pregnant women Technicians Class Aides General Operatives Step 3 Evaluate the risk The risk is evaluated/assessed by looking at the probability of the hazard giving rise to problems and the consequent severity of that hazard, should it occur. 3

4 The following risk matrix charts are examples of what can be used: Consequence should exposure occur Probability of exposure to hazard Very likely Likely Unlikely Highly Unlikely Life Threatening High High High Medium Detrimental High High Medium Medium Harmful High Medium Medium Low Negligible Medium Medium Low Low The following two tables explain the meaning of each classification given above. Hazard Consequence Table Life Threatening Detrimental Harmful Negligible Hazard may cause death or total loss of one or more bodily functions (e.g. loss of/use of, an arm, eye, huge financial loss etc) Hazard may cause severe injury, illness or permanent partial loss of one or more bodily functions, or serious property damage, loss of production capability. Hazard may cause an incident that is reportable to the Health & Safety Authority (HSA) i.e. an incident that causes an employee to be absent for three or more consecutive days. Hazard may cause minor injury, illness or property damage, first-aid treatment only or no injury, low financial loss. Probability Rating Table Very Likely Likely Unlikely Highly Unlikely Exposure to hazard likely to occur frequently Exposure to hazard likely to occur but not frequently Exposure to hazard unlikely to occur Exposure to hazard so unlikely that it can be assumed that it will not happen. 4

5 Probable consequences associated with each event to be assessed in terms of damage to: Life Property Environment Stakeholders 5

6 Step 4- Control Measures Once the level of risk is determined, the control measures should reduce the risk to an acceptable or tolerable level. When deciding upon control measures, the Control Hierarchy principles should be applied in the following sequence: 1. Eliminate, Substitute, Reduce the hazard 2. Control it at source (enclose it) 3. Implement a safe system of work 4. Provide Personal Protective Equipment (PPE is the last resort!) Once the controls are listed, the following questions should be answered: Do the precautions: Meet the Standards set by a legal requirement? Comply with a recognised industry standard? 6

7 Represent best practice? Reduce risks as far as reasonably practicable? If so, then the risks are adequately controlled. The precautions that are recommended should be referred to e.g. procedures, manuals, company rules etc. Step 5 Responsibility and Target Dates List the people designated with responsibility for implementation of the control measures and target dates for implementation. Risk Priority When assessing the risks and looking at the control measures to be implemented, the Risk Priority table should be referred to. Risk Priority Definitions of Priority Suggested TimeFrame High Situation critical, stop work immediately or consider cessation of work process. Must be fixed today, consider short and/or long term actions Medium Is very important, must be fixed this week, consider short and/or long term actions. Low Is still important, but can be dealt with through scheduled maintenance or similar type programming. However, if solution is quick and easy, then fix it today. Review and/or manage by routine procedures Now This week 1-3 months Document Control The risk assessments and annual reviews should be planned and scheduled in advance in the College/Function diary. All risk assessments must be documented using the standard template (DITRAT) in accordance with safety legislation. Records must be kept by the College/Function to demonstrate the existence and completion of the process. Records in relation to some hazards must be maintained in a prescribed manner. Hazardous Substances Even if the assessment indicates that there is no significant risk to health, the assessment record must be kept. Confined Spaces Initial assessments to establish safe operating procedures. Assessments for each entry. Risk assessments should be kept for at least five years. In some cases it will be necessary to keep records for longer. 7

8 Communication All staff/students in the area should be made aware of the risk assessment. A copy should be made available and staff/students must sign it to say that they have read and understood it. Training may be required in addition for specific areas. Compilation of College/Function Safety Statement The College/Function should meet with the Health and Safety Officer once the risk assessment and health and safety statement for each School has been completed. At all times during this process, they may consult and get advice from the Health and Safety Officer. Using the Parent Health and Safety Statement as guidance, an overall health and safety statement will be then compiled for each School/Function and assembled with others to form the College/Function Health and Safety Statement. This should contain the policy statement, a statement of local arrangements and resources in place for securing the safety, health and welfare of the staff and students, listed people with responsibilities, local committee membership details, local procedures to deal with emergencies, incidents, fire etc and safe work practice sheets relevant to the College/Function. It also should contain the risk assessment and details of document control and review. Audit Procedures An audit of all controls and systems should take place annually. The College/Function Director should ensure that this is completed and a copy of the report should be submitted to the DIT Health and Safety Committee. The Health and Safety Officer, or other independent officer will perform an overall audit of the safety management system once a year and details of this will be submitted to the DIT Health and Safety Committee. 8