Example risk assessment for a Warehouse This example risk assessment applies to a warehouse which employees both adults and young persons. It can be used as a guide to help you think through some of the hazards in your business and steps you need to take to eliminate or reduce risks to as low as possible. Please note that it is not a generic assessment that you can just put your company name on and adopt wholesale without any thought. This would not satisfy the law and would not be effective in protecting people. How was the risk assessment done? 1. To identify the hazards and the risks the manager: Look at small business guidance on www.hse.gov.uk to see where hazards can occur, and looked at information on the employment of young persons Walked around the warehouse noting what might pose a risk, taking into consideration HSE guidance. The manager also considered occasional activities, such as changing light bulbs. Talk to staff to learn from their knowledge and experience, and to listen to their concerns and opinions about health and safety issues Looked at the accident book to gain an understanding of what particular risks have resulted in injury. Decided that, on an apprentice s first day at work, the manager would go through the risk assessment with him/her & decide what additional risk control measures were necessary, taking account of the apprentice s lack of both experience & awareness of risk, in particular if apprentice under 18. 2. The manager wrote down who could be harmed and how 3. The manager then wrote down what controls were already in place to eliminate or reduce the likelihood of injury. The manager then considered whether further controls were necessary and assessed the level of risk the lack of controls presented as either low, medium or high. This approach helped decide whether further controls were necessary and if so, by when these controls should be in place. The aim of the further action was to further reduce the risks to as low as reasonably practicable*. 4. After the manager put in place further identified controls, the findings were discussed with staff and placed the assessments in the staffroom. The guardians of any young person were informed of the findings of the risk assessment and how the risks to that young person would be controlled. Any workers who had difficulty in understanding English had the safety arrangements explained to them in their own language 5. It was decided that the risk assessment would be reviewed on a yearly basis or if there were any major changes in the workplac
Slips & trips Staff/customers risk Suitable absorber provided 3 months sprains, fractures or in case of spillage bruising if they trip over objects, such as Staff to be trained to clean stock, or slip on spillages, e.g. from fat build up. and dry any spillages immediately 1 month Manual handling (should be task specific if various manual handling tasks undertaken) Staff risk strains or other injuries, to their back or elsewhere, from handling heavy items Flooring kept dry and quality maintained All staff trained to maintain good housekeeping standards and ensure stock does not project into gangways Cleaner empties bins and removes loose debris daily Pallets stored safely in designated areas Protective non slip footwear provided and worn All staff are trained how to lift properly. shelves are for light goods only. Walkways kept clear. Porter s trolley available. Conveyor system used to reduce manual handling materials in and out of delivery trucks (separate risk assessment available) Lift trucks available Extra bins to be provided for waste material near loading bays Remind staff that where possible stock should be moved using the trolley Assess individual capability of staff in particular for young persons Ensure adequate rest periods in place in particular for young persons Buddy up young person to ensure adequate supervision
Falls from height Staff could suffer severe or even fatal injuries if they fell whilst climbing racking. All staff are given strict instructions never to climb racking monitored by supervisors. Staff could suffer severe or even fatal injuries if they fell whilst changing light bulbs etc in the high ceiling. Proprietary forklift cage used by maintenance worker for changing bulbs. Cage supplier s information shows it is manufactured to standard. Train maintenance worker to check FLT cage is in good condition and properly secured before each use. Staff or contractor could suffer severe or fatal injuries falling through fragile roof lights when looking for/repairing leaks. No controls in place Put up fragile roof signs, one on each side of the building and at access points to roof. Agree with maintenance worker that a contractor will be used for any access to the roof. Worker falling from roof of internal warehouse office used for storage. The internal warehouse roof is load bearing, has full rails and boards around its edge, adequate lighting and access is by permanent steps with a handrail. Require contractor to provide an assessment before access is allowed if any roof work is required.
Hazardous The fumes may Drivers not allowed to leave None substances (Vehicle cause staff eye irritation and vehicle running in warehouse exhaust respiratory problems Roller shutter doors and fumes) windows open where possible to assist in ventilation Falling objects (from racking and during movement) Staff may suffer serious injury if struck from a falling object Number of vehicles in warehouse is low and as a result fume build up is low Racking is designed to be suitable for the loads carried Staff report any racking damage immediately System in place to ensure defective pallets withdrawn from use immediately Protective footwear issued to all staff and monitoring in place to ensure worn Kick boards in place on mezzanine storage floor Sign fixed to racking stating maximum load configuration 1 month
Machinery Remind staff not to distract (Stretch wrap colleagues who are using machinery. machine) Staff could suffer serious injury from contact with dangerous parts. The whole body could also get trapped between moving pallet load and fixed structure Staff can also cut themselves on sharp edges or scald themselves on hot parts Young persons prohibited from using dangerous machinery Staff trained in operating procedures Daily checks of machine guards before use Machines serviced and maintained Warning signs displayed at machine Only standardised pallet loads wrapped Area around machine to be kept clear at all times Area around machine to be indicated by use of markings in fluorescent orange red 1 month Traffic movement (deliveries) Serious injuries can occur from: Staff and visitors being hit by vehicle People fall from a vehicle Objects falling from vehicle onto people Floor and traffic routes suitable for vehicles Vehicle routes kept free from obstructions Parking of cars and vans only allowed in marked spaces well away from external delivery/dispatch area Outside area gritted when frosty or snow 5mph speed limit imposed Reversing only carried out when necessary and use of competent trained banks person with safety shoes and high visibility jacket Adequate signage Anyone working or in vicinity of delivery vehicles should be given training and high visibility clothing Walkways required through visitor and employee car park 2 months
Operation of lift trucks Serious injuries can occur from: The vehicle crashing into other vehicles and/or other objects Staff and visitors being hit by lift trucks Objects falling from lift trucks Lift truck tipping over Lift truck operators falling from the vehicle Lift truck operators crushed by the mast Operators trained in use of FLT FLT maintained regularly as per LOLER and PUWER Drivers instructed to keep key with them at all times System in place for refresher training of operators Gangways and aisles of sufficient space to enable lift trucks to load and unload from racking safely System in place to keep FLTs and pedestrians separate in particular for young persons Access to warehouse restricted to staff Floor and housekeeping maintained Warning signs located around traffic routes FLTs have roll cages and seat belts No person under the age of 18 allowed to drive FLT Young persons within warehouse with competent person at all times Additional awareness training provided to young persons At no time is young person allowed to be by themselves or work in areas where they are not separated from FLTs 2 weeks
Workplace 1 month temperature All staff could suffer varied discomfort ie too hot/cold Fans and extractors provided to control air temperature Staff room provided with hot and cold drinks PPE provided Encourage staff to take regular drinks of water During extremely hot periods monitor young persons to reduce heat exhaustion risk. If heat becomes extreme, the young person can t be allowed to work in such conditions by law Reasonably practicable explanation You may come across it as SFAIRP ( so far as is reasonably practicable ) or ALARP ( as low as reasonably practicable ). SFAIRP is the term most often used in the Health and Safety at Work etc Act and in Regulations. ALARP is the term used by risk specialists, and duty holders are more likely to know it. We use ALARP in this guidance. In HSE s view, the two terms are interchangeable except if you are drafting formal legal documents when you must use the correct legal phrase. The definition set out by the Court of Appeal (in its judgment in Edwards v. National Coal Board, [1949] 1 All ER 743) is: Reasonably practicable is a narrower term than physically possible a computation must be made by the owner in which the quantum of risk is placed on one scale and the sacrifice involved in the measures necessary for averting the risk (whether in money, time or trouble) is placed in the other, and that, if it be shown that there is a gross disproportion between them the risk being insignificant in relation to the sacrifice the defendants discharge the onus on them. In essence, making sure a risk has been reduced ALARP is about weighing the risk against the sacrifice needed to further reduce it. The decision is weighted in favour of health and safety because the presumption is that the duty holder should implement the risk reduction measure. To avoid having to make this sacrifice, the duty holder must be able to show that it would be grossly disproportionate to the benefits of risk reduction that would be achieved. Thus, the
process is not one of balancing the costs and benefits of measures but, rather, of adopting measures except where they are ruled out because they involve grossly disproportionate sacrifices. Extreme examples might be: To spend 1m to prevent five staff suffering bruised knees is obviously grossly disproportionate; but To spend 1m to prevent a major explosion capable of killing 150 people is obviously proportionate. Of course, in reality many decisions about risk and the controls that achieve ALARP are not so obvious. Factors come into play such as ongoing costs set against remote chances of one off events, or daily expense and supervision time required to ensure that, for example, employees wear ear defenders set against a chance of developing hearing loss at some time in the future. It requires judgment. There is no simple formula for computing what is ALARP. Source: Health and Safety Executive, 2008 Amended by Mid Beds DC