Risk Assessments
Risk assessments need to be carried out before any new potential hazards are introduced into the workplace or for any new activities that have the potential to cause harm. This may be for new experimental procedures or the modification of existing procedures. It also includes office activities (e.g. using a guillotine, highly repetitive tasks). An assessment is made of the physical, chemical and biological hazards that pose a risk to workers and the environment at each and every step of the procedure or task. It considers the likelihood of exposure to the hazard and the consequences in the event of being exposed to the hazard. It identifies the controls that need to be in place to minimize these risks.
The documents presented here are working documents. That is, they are subject to revision as new information comes to hand. These documents are provided here as a resource to assist members of staff and postgraduate students of SoMS in writing risk assessments for their own work areas. In most cases, they will need to be adapted to suit the particular work environment where the process is performed, to take account of any differences in the way the process is performed or differences in the handling of materials / substances. At present, not all of these documents are in the same standard format but they will be updated to the same format as they come up for revision. Any feedback that you may have on these documents would be appreciated and can be directed to the SoMS OHS coordinator.
Legal Considerations
It is a legal requirement (see Chapter 2 of the
NSW Occupational Health and Safety Regulation 2001) that risk assessments are carried out for any hazards introduced into the workplace or any activities that have the potential to cause harm.
Risk assessments should be in written form, with an electronic copy of the final document (and any that are changed) sent to the SoMS OHS Coordinator for filing. A written risk assessment records your consideration of the issues involved in a task (step by step) and the control measures required for each step. It also provides a reference to ensure the activities undertaken are in accordance with the required control measures and for the training of new staff. In the event of being charged with a breach of the
NSW OHS Act 2000 or the NSW OHS Regulation 2001, it is much better if there is written evidence of a risk assessment having been performed than not done at all - they assess hazards and their associated risks in specific workplaces and show what you have done to control known issues.
Forms and Guidelines
All new risk assessments, and all risk assessments as they are reviewed, need to comply with the risk assessment form available from the
UNSW OHS and Workers Compensation web site. This is to ensure that the forms used and the actions taken are consistent with the
UNSW OHS Management System. Training courses are available for how to complete a risk assessment and you should consult the UNSW Risk Assessment and Control Procedure and the Risk Rating Procedure, available from the
UNSW Risk Management Program web site.
SoMS Risk Assessments