Work Health & Safety
5. Risk Assessment
Authors: Staff Legal Eagle
Firm / Chambers:
Last updated: 31 Aug 2015
- A risk assessment involves:
- considering what might happen if a worker is exposed to a hazard; and
- determining the likelihood of the incident occurring.
- It is mandatory to conduct risk assessments for high-risk activities such as:
- entering confined spaces;
- working at height; and
- live electrical work.
- Questions to ask when conducting a risk assessment include:
- what is the type of harm that could occur;
- how severe or serious is the harm;
- could the hazard potentially cause death or life-threatening injury or is it more likely to cause minor injuries requiring first aid;
- are there any factors which could influence the severity of harm such as distance from exposure or time of exposure;
- how many people are exposed to the hazard both inside and outside the workplace; and
- whether one hazard may give rise to more hazards:
- for example a small fire may give rise to an explosion if it occurs near hazardous chemicals.
- Once the risk is assessed for its seriousness the likelihood of the risk eventuating needs to be determined. Likelihood can be rated as either:
- certain to occur;
- very likely;
- possible;
- unlikely; or
- rare.
- The level of risk will increase as the likelihood of harm and its seriousness increases. An example might be falling from a ladder. The risk of harm occurring could be determined as quite low for a company that only uses stepladders to change LED light globes once every few years. By contrast it could be very likely for a company whose employees climb stepladders to place and retrieve boxes of stock from high shelves on a daily basis.
View more Information on Employment & WHS