Work Group Risk Registers and Risk Assessments
Risk Assessments
Procedures that are hazardous or could cause harm to the health and safety of people carrying out the task or to people knowingly or unknowingly exposed to the hazard must have the risk associated with the procedure assessed. Guidelines on risk assessment are available from the University.
NOTE: Risk assessments are tools to allow you to formulate appropriate procedures, and this is their intended purpose. Use them to identify the level of risk associated with a process or piece of equipment, then see if you can eliminate, substitute, or modify the procedures to reduce the risk. Risk assessments for activities conducted in a work group should be collated into a Work Group Risk Register (WGRR)
A template for developing a WGRR is available.
A risk assessment can be completed with the following guidelines:
- The risk assessment process is designed to make you think about the procedures being assessed.
- The assessment is made based on the judgment of the people carrying out the assessment, and these people should have competence and experience in the procedures being assessed and have access to and understand the protocols/SOPs that apply to that procedure.
- The values do not have to be those listed; they could lie between.
- Read across from the risk score column to determine what control measures are appropriate.
- Once the control measures are decided on, the risk assessment process will have to be repeated, taking the modified protocols.
- For our department, we understand the activity as the procedure, and the identified hazards as the different hazards that are associated with that procedure. An example of an activity is the use of a centrifuge. Injury risks associated with improper use and hearing damage due to noise are two possible hazards that might be identified.
- Some translations used in our department (these are for guidance only):
- Exposure: Continuously (8 hours/day, 5 days/week), Frequently (daily), Occasionally (<1/day, weekly), Infrequently (<1/week, monthly), Rarely (<1/month, yearly)
- Consequences: Catastrophic (multiple deaths and serious injuries), Major (a death or serious injury), Moderate (an injury requiring days of treatment and recovery), Minor (an injury requiring hours of treatment or recovery), Insignificant (no real consequences).
- Note that you can use numbers between those suggested on the form, and that your assessment of likelihood should be based on the safety precautions and protective equipment being used.
Risk assessments should be reviewed every 3 years or when the activity changes.