Risk Assessments

ACCREDITATION

RISK ASSESSMENT

This online Risk Assessment course will help you or colleagues understand risk assessments, the foundation of all effective health and safety systems.  Every employer has a duty to protect the health and safety of their employees at work.  But, without first identifying the hazards in your workplace and thinking about the chance they will cause harm you cannot protect your staff.

Suitable and sufficient risk assessments that are regularly reviewed are therefore the foundation of all safe and healthy workplaces.

This CPD accredited risk assessment training is designed for all those tasked with improving health and safety at work.  It  provides the knowledge needed to create safe and compliant risk assessments in your workplace.

COURSE SAMPLE

COURSE CONTENT

UNIT 1 | Risk Assessment Definitions and Legislation

In this first unit we define the key terminology of risk assessments and explain the underpinning legal requirements.  The Unit headings are:

• What does Risk Assessment mean?
• Hazards and Risks
• Example of Hazards and Risks
• Near Misses and Accidents
• Causes of accidents
• Risk Assessment Law
• Hazard-specific Legislation
• Managing Health and Safety

UNIT 2 | The Risk Assessment Process

In this second unit we explain how to conduct a risk assessment, setting this out in five easy steps. To support you in completing a risk assessment effectively, we look at some common hazards. We also outline the importance of ongoing monitoring of your risk assessments.  The Unit Headings are:

• The Purpose of Risk Assessment
• Conducting Risk Assessments
• Five Steps To Easy Risk Assessment
• Step 1: Identify the hazards
• Common Hazards
• Risk/Hazard Identification and Reporting
• Step 2: Decide who might be harmed and how?
• Step 3: Evaluate the risks and decide on precautions
• Mitigating Risk
• Hierarchy of Control
• Step 4: Record your findings and implement them
• Step 5: Review your assessment and update if necessary
• Method Statement

UNIT 3 | Quiz

COURSE OBJECTIVE

Help create safer and healthier workplaces by developing the competence to undertake workplace risk assessments effectively.

IDEAL FOR

This online risk assessment course is designed for everyone responsible for workplace risk assessments and anyone interested in finds ways to improve workplace safety.

CERTIFICATE

To successfully complete the online Risk Assessment training learners need to evidence their understanding of the course content by achieving 80% or more in the final 15-question multiple choice quiz.  At which point their certificate will be emailed and training records stored.   A posted certificate is available for £9.

The Risk Assessment certificate is valid for 3 years

CERTIFICATE

INCLUDED

Offset Certificate

• Kept up to date with with UK legislation
• Assignment & reporting included
• Certificate on completion
• Self-paced, learn anywhere online
• Carbon neutral product

TERMINOLOGY

RISK – The chance of an incident occurring due to a specific hazard. 

HAZARD – Potential source of harm or adverse health effect on a person.  

ACCIDENT – Unexpected and unintentional, results in damage or injury

NEAR MISS – Unexpected and unintentional, no damage or injury

INCIDENT –  Term that incorporates accidents and near-misses

WHAT IS A RISK ASSESSMENT?

Risk assessment is a process where hazards are identified and common sense steps are taken to reduce the chance of the hazard causing an incident.

The risk assessment process has 5 steps.

1. Identify the hazards
2. Decide who might be harmed and how
3. Evaluate the risks and decide on precautions
4. Record your findings and implement them
5.  Review your assessment and update if necessary

YOUR LEGAL DUTIES

The Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 requires organisations to ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, the health and safety at work of its employees.  This means taking reasonable steps to protect employees safety and health.  Health refers to physical health for example minimising risk of a sore back from computer use and mental health by for example acting on bullying.

Since 1974 various regulations have been published the provide specific guidance on how the HSE Act should be applied by employers in various situations.  The Managing Health and Safety Regulation 1999 require every employer to undertake risk assessments and if you employ 5 or more people your risk assessment must be written down.

For the most common or severe workplace hazards specific regulations provide clear guidance on how to undertake risk assessment for each hazard.  For example there are specific regulations covering;

• First Aid
• Display Screen Equipment
• Manual Handling
• Control of Substances Hazardous to Health
• Working at Height
• Fire Safety
• Electricity at Work
• Working in Confined Spaces

All regulations require risk assessments must be reviewed ‘regularly’ and be ‘suitable and sufficient’.  So there are no specific periods defined in law.  In practice if there is a change in the ways of working which ‘could lead to new hazards’ employers should reconsider if risks assessments remain appropriate and act accordingly.

Health & Safety prosecutions are of a form known as ‘strict liability‘.  Effectively meaning the accused, usually a businesses are automatically assumed guilty.  This is the opposite to criminal law where the accused is first presumed innocent.  The only defence from strict liability is called due diligence.  This is where the accused can evidence they did all they can.  Hence, keeping written risks assessments and evidence of training and other measures is important.

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