Example risk assessment for chilled warehousing
Important reminder
This example risk assessment shows the kind
of approach a small business might take. Use it as a guide to think through some of the
hazards in your business and the steps you need to
take to control the risks. Please note that it is not a
generic risk 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.
Every business is different – you need to think through the hazards and controls required in your business for yourself.
Setting the scene
This company provides chilled warehousing facilities
(eg at temperatures between 2° and 5°C) at three
locations. Capacity at each location is 10 000 pallet
spaces, using fixed and mobile racking. Pallet
throughput at each location averages 4000 a week. The
company has just switched from using R22 refrigerant
to ammonia.
Twenty people are employed in the warehouses,
working a variety of shifts. Three members of staff are
from an Eastern European country and, of these, only
one speaks good English. At busy times, temporary
staff from an employment agency may also be
employed.
The site manager did the risk assessment, which
covers goods inward from the gate to the cold store, its
storage and its despatch.
How was the risk assessment done?
The manager followed the guidance in Five steps to risk assessment.
- To identify the hazards, the manager:
- looked at HSE’s web pages for free health and safety advice and guidance for the warehousing industry, and at Warehousing and storage: a guide to health and safety HSG76, particularly the chapter on temperature-controlled storage;
- walked around the areas where staff, customers and others may go, noting what might pose a risk and taking HSE’s guidance into account ;
- talked through the issues with the safety representative including how knowledge of risks and risk controls
could effectively be communicated to the two staff
members who did not speak good English, and
health and safety training for agency staff;
- talked to supervisors and other members of staff to learn
from their detailed knowledge of particular jobs and
areas, and to discuss whether safe working procedures needed to be developed for certain jobs; and
- looked at the accident book to get information on past
problems.
- The manager then wrote down who would be harmed by the hazards and how.
- The manager took account of HSE’s guidance. Where he did not consider existing controls good enough, he wrote down what else was needed to control the risk.
- The manager discussed the findings with the safety
representative. Then, to implement the findings of
the risk assessment, the manager decided who was
responsible for each of the actions that were needed, and when each action should be done. He recorded the date when each action was completed.
- The manager decided to review and update the
assessment at least once a year, or at any time when major changes to the workplace occurred, such as the introduction of a new plant or process.
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