Don’t Put Your Staff At Risk This Year

Posted on 26th Jan, 2018 | By Lorretta Tatham

January and February are common times for risk assessments; as a new year begins, organisations tend to re-examine their environments and habits in much the same way that people do. If you’ve not done yours in a while – or if you work in a particularly large or busy environment (such as a warehouse), then planning and performing a risk assessment this month is a particularly worthwhile task. After all, for all employers the safety of their employees should be their very top priority, and it’s exactly this type of concern that risk assessments are designed to handle.

Why Bother With A Risk Assessment?

Even though risk assessments are a legal requirement, there are many workplaces across the UK who still don’t really bother with them. They can be a hassle, it’s true, but they are absolutely worth the effort. A lot can change in a short space of time, even if it doesn’t look like it has. Equipment can shift, people can come and go, layouts can be gradually altered and working practices can change. It’s unlikely that every change will require the pen and clipboard, but it’s key to keep abreast of these changes by performing your risk assessments regularly, and the beginning of the year is an ideal time to do so while you’re in the right mindset.

For example, getting your ladders inspected on a frequent basis is a vital element in avoiding serious – or even fatal – falls. Of course, there’s no law that says you have to do absolutely every aspect of this yourself – for example, you could take advantage of our own expertise in ladder inspections. And although safety is the primary goal, by examining your working practices through a risk assessment, you might even find new ways of optimising your way of working too, saving you both time and effort in the long run.

Three Key Steps To A Successful, Effective Risk Assessment

There are several ways you can maximise the effectiveness of your risk assessment, and thankfully most of them are fairly common-sense.

1. Keep everyone in the know

Make sure that everyone is aware of the hazards and risks that affect them – specifically, that the appropriate people are fully cognisant of the factors that fall within their own areas of responsibility.

2. Follow through with your plan

There’s not much point in carrying out a risk assessment if you’re not ready to follow through with your findings. Once you’ve collated the data, make sure that you’re proactively finding ways to use it to create practical, actionable plans that make your premises a safer place to work.

3. Don’t take the wrong shortcuts

Shortcuts are great – they’re the easy ways of doing things, after all. But while you’re looking for ways to improve efficiency and save time using your risk assessment, don’t forget its primary goal – to keep people safe. Don’t cut corners when it comes to the dangerous work, or let anyone else do so either (for example, by not working with the appropriate Personal Protection Equipment).

Here at Browns Safety, your safety is our absolute priority. We offer a number of courses for the workplace to encourage the safe practice set out by risk assessments; for instance, our manual handling course, or alternatively our Working At Height Training Course. To book your place on one of these, just give us a call on our Course Enquiries line – 01282 615517 – and one of our friendly members of staff will go over the arrangements with you.