Five steps to risk assessment

Five steps to risk assessment aims to help you assess health and safety risks.

A risk assessment is an important step in protecting your workers and your business, as well as complying with the law. It helps you focus on the risks that really matter in your workplace – the ones with the potential to cause harm. In many instances, straightforward measures can readily control risks, for example, ensuring spillages are cleaned up promptly so people do not slip or cupboard drawers kept closed to ensure people do not trip. For most, that means simple, cheap and effective measures to ensure your most valuable asset – your workforce – is protected.

The law does not expect you to eliminate all risk, but you are required to protect people as far as is ‘reasonably practicable’. This guide tells you how to achieve that with minimum fuss.

This is not the only way to do a risk assessment, there are other methods that work well, particularly for more complex risks and circumstances. However, we believe this method is the most straightforward for most organisations.

What is risk assessment?

A risk assessment is simply a careful examination of what, in your work, could cause harm to people, so that you can weigh up whether you have taken enough precautions or should do more to prevent harm. Workers and others have a right to be protected from harm caused by a failure to take reasonable control measures.

Accidents and ill health can ruin lives and affect your business if output is lost, machinery is damaged, insurance costs increase or you have to go to court. You are legally required to assess the risks in your workplace so you must put plans in place to control risks.

How to assess the risks in your workplace

Follow the five steps in this leaflet

Don’t overcomplicate the process. In many organisations, the risks are well known and the necessary control measures are easy to apply. You probably already know whether, for example, you have employees who move heavy loads and so could harm their backs, or where people are most likely to slip or trip. If so, check that you have taken reasonable precautions to avoid injury.

If you run a small organisation and you are confident you understand what’s involved, you can do the assessment yourself. You don’t have to be a health and safety expert.

Download the Risk Assessment and Policy Template. This template brings together your risk assessment, health and safety policy, and record of health and safety arrangements into one document to help you get started and save time. If you already have a health and safety policy, you may choose to simply complete the risk assessment part of the template. We also have a number of example risk assessments to show you what a risk assessment might look like. Choose the example closest to your own business and use it as a guide for completing the template, adapting it to meet the needs of your own business.

If you work in a larger organisation, you could ask a health and safety adviser to help you. If you are not confident, get help from someone who is competent. In all cases, you should make sure that you involve your staff or their representatives in the process. They will have useful information about how the work is done that will make your assessment of the risk more thorough and effective. But remember, you are responsible for seeing that the assessment is carried out properly.

When thinking about your risk assessment, remember:

a hazard is anything that may cause harm, such as chemicals, electricity, working from ladders, an open drawer, etc; and
the risk is the chance, high or low, that somebody could be harmed by these and other hazards, together with an indication of how serious the harm could be.

Some frequently asked questions

What if the work I do tends to vary a lot, or I (or my employees) move from one site to another?

Identify the hazards you can reasonably expect and assess the risks from them. This general assessment should stand you in good stead for the majority of your work. Where you do take on work or a new site that is different, cover any new or different hazards with a specific assessment. You do not have to start from scratch each time.

What if I share a workplace?

Tell the other employers and self-employed people there about any risks your work could cause them, and what precautions you are taking. Also, think about the risks to your own workforce from those who share your workplace.

Do my employees have responsibilities?

Yes. Employees have legal responsibilities to co-operate with their employer’s efforts to improve health and safety (eg they must wear protective equipment when it is provided), and to look out for each other.

What if one of my employee’s circumstances change?

You’ll need to look again at the risk assessment. You are required to carry out a specific risk assessment for new or expectant mothers, as some tasks (heavy lifting or work with chemicals for example) may not be appropriate. If an employee develops a disability then you are required to make reasonable adjustments. People returning to work following major surgery may also have particular requirements. If you put your mind to it, you can almost always find a way forward that works for you and your employees.

What if I have already assessed some of the risks?

If, for example, you use hazardous chemicals and you have already assessed the risks to health and the precautions you need to take under the Control of Substances Hazardous to Health Regulations (COSHH), you can consider them ‘checked’ and move on.

Getting help

If you get stuck, don’t give up. There is a wealth of information available to help you. More information about legal requirements and standards can be found on our publications pages (and also HSE Books):

An introduction to health and safety: Health and safety in small businesses [252KB]
Leaflet INDG259(rev1) HSE Books 2003 (single copy free)
Essentials of Health and Safety at work (Fourth edition) HSE Books 2006 ISBN 0 7176 6179 2

Five steps to risk assessment