07/04/11
HSE
Risk Assessment Is Essential For Your Business
No matter the size of your business, it is important
to ensure that that a proper risk assessment is undertaken on your premises
and that all areas, including staff only sections, are included. Every
firm has a duty of care to their employees as well as to all guests
or consumers who may be present on the property and failing to carry
out a proper risk assessment and act upon the findings could see the
company liable, which may end up being very costly for the company.
In order to verify the safety of the property, every firm should be
aware of the HSE risk assessment guidelines and try to ensure they comply with these guidelines.
A risk assessment can be carried out by a firm in-house, but using the
HSE risk assessment
guidelines as a starting point makes a lot of sense. However, it would
be wrong to take any documentation or guidelines as being complete as
no two properties are the same. This means that each firm has to carefully
examine their property to ensure that there are no possible areas of
risk or danger for people. It is also important to remember that conditions
can change the safety of a floor or seating area, so this must be considered
as well.
A great place to look, in addition to the HSE risk assessment
guidelines would be in the accident book for your company. If this has
been maintained correctly, it provides a great starting point for areas
that could carry potential risks for people on the property. The main
reason to fill out an accident book is to prevent these accidents from
occurring again and all accident spots should be examined to determine
if anything can be done to make the area safer. Every firm can play
their part to reduce the risk of accidents occurring and reacting to
previous accidents can be of benefit.
It is important that all staff members know their duties with regards
to risk assessment and that they are able to act within the guidelines
laid out in the HSE risk assessment
manual. Knowing the key elements that can cause danger is a great way
to prevent accidents from occurring and all staff should be trained
up in this aspect. Staff training is an essential part of running a
safe organisation and although training does not have to be costly,
spending the time and money to ensure each staff member knows what is
required of them can bring long-term benefits to an organisation.
If a company still feels that they should be doing more ensure that
they are promoting safety in the correct manner on their property, it
is possible to have an official risk assessment carried out. Officials
who operate within the HSE risk assessment
guidelines will come to the property and examine all areas of the property.
Knowing that the area is safe can provide a degree of comfort for staff
but it should not be viewed as the stopping point for ensuring safety
on a property. Continual examination and analysis of the property is
required to ensure that the possibility of accidents is kept as low
as possible.
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Further
information
Pendulum
testing - Surface roughness
- Slips Potential Model - Slip
testing methods - HSE
slips site - Grip Potential Ltd
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