A mere mention of the words ‘risk assessment’ can be enough to trigger a lot of people. We’ve almost been socialised to look down upon them, to treat them as a waste of time – the reality is that this couldn’t be further from the truth.
Risk assessments are underappreciated and frequently misunderstood, and it’s time that changed. If you’re looking for a little more insight into how they should be used, then you’re in the right place. Read on for a rundown of the ins and outs of risk assessments and business safety.
Why risk assessment is important
Risk assessments are important both practically and legally speaking.
Practical benefits
Practically speaking, risk assessments are a great way of preventing accidents. You get to look at a range of potential risks, consider their impact and probability of occurring, and then take appropriate steps to mitigate the risks you deem to be most worthy of your attention. After all, there is a reason why they’re considered nearly universally important by all safety inspectorates.
Legal benefits
From a legal perspective, risk assessments are often necessary for a number of reasons. First, they show that you’re a responsible business owner, and that you’re taking active steps more generally to keep your workplace safe for your employees.
Second, in a number of contexts, risk assessments can be a strict requirement in order to achieve regulatory compliance.
Even in cases where an incident has not occurred, if the relevant authority decides to check whether you’ve carried out these assessments, failure to prove that you’ve done so can result in serious legal repercussions.
Types of risk assessment
Risk assessments can be broken down into two very broad categories, in terms of how they’re conducted – specialised and non-specialised.
Specialised
Specialised risk assessments – such as the Legionella risk assessment – tend to require both specialist knowledge and equipment in order to carry them out effectively.
In the context of Legionella and water safety, for example, the assessor will need to have both in-depth knowledge of water systems, and access to certain pieces of testing equipment.
It’s often impossible to do these risk assessments effectively without access to this equipment and knowledge, and attempts to do so anyway could result in missing serious hazards.
Non-specialised
There is also a wide range of non-specialised risk assessments, that can be completed by people with some kind of understanding of the concepts involved. These could include anything from safeguarding risk assessments, to the dangers associated with using hand tools on a worksite. These kinds of assessments typically don’t require using an external service provider, but that doesn’t make them any less important.
Risk assessments should be taken seriously by all business owners, from the very beginning. Whether you’re looking to keep your business safe from human or economic threats, they’re a vital tool that can be used in pretty much any context, so long as you get help where necessary from appropriate service providers.
