Scope of Risk Assessment
The employer must make a suitable and sufficient assessment of:
- the health and safety risks to employees whilst at work;
- the health and safety risks to which people not in his employment may be exposed due to the way in which any aspect of his business is conducted.
Purpose Of Assessment
The employer must ensure that any risk assessment he makes identifies the measures he needs to take to comply with his:
- general duties;
- obligations under the Management Regulations;
- obligations under the widely-applicable legislation covered in other sections of the site - Workplace, Work Equipment, Display Screen Equipment, Chemical Substances, Personal Protective Equipment and Manual Handling;
- obligations under any further health and safety legislation applicable to his undertaking, for example as regards construction design and management, packaging and supply of substances, manufacture of articles for use at work, offshore activities, agriculture, or the like.
Review Of Assessment
The employer must review any risk assessment he had made, and make any necessary changes to it, if there is a reason to suspect it is no longer valid or there has been a significant change in the matters to which it relates.
Self-employed persons must carry out similar duties to those above.
Suitable and Sufficient
A suitable and sufficient risk assessment should:
- identify the significant hazards and the risks which these can pose to employees or others;
- enable the employer to identify and prioritise the measures needed to comply with his general duties and other legal requirements;
- be appropriate to the nature of work and such that it remains valid for a reasonable period of time;
- be understandable and repeatable.