You’re under a legal obligation to regularly carry out risk assessments to identify risks to the health and safety of your staff (including those working from home) and others (such as customers or other visitors to your business premises). Once you have identified these risks, you must identify how to eliminate or reduce them and, crucially, act on your findings. You can use a risk assessment template to help you carry out your assessment.
Use General risk assessment for an office, General risk assessment for a shop or other business open to customers, General risk assessment for remote workers and/or Pregnancy and maternity: risk assessment.
Performing general risk assessments
How often should I perform a general risk assessment?
You should perform a general risk assessment as soon as you become an employer. You’re then legally required to review and renew your general risk assessment if it is no longer valid for some reason, or there have been significant changes to anything that it covers.
For example, you should carry out a new risk assessment if you change business premises or your existing ones are reconfigured. Additionally, look out for less wholesale changes and review your risk assessment at that stage. For example, if you buy a new piece of potentially hazardous equipment, someone suffers (or nearly suffers) an injury at your workplace, or your staff report a potential problem. Staff members’ needs may change over time, and you should also carry out a new risk assessment where a staff member becomes pregnant or has new health needs.
In practice, your business will inevitably change over time, so even if you do not spot any trigger, you should review and update your risk assessment regularly. There is no set time frame by which you must review your risk assessment; an annual review is a sensible starting point for most businesses.
How do I perform a general risk assessment?
To perform a general health and safety risk assessment, you must follow the following five steps:
- identify hazards;
- identify who might be harmed by the hazards);
- take all reasonable steps to eliminate or reduce the risks identified;
- record your findings in a risk assessment template; and
- review and update your risk assessment regularly.
Do I have to consult with anyone when completing my risk assessment template?
Yes. You must consult with your staff or their representatives when performing your risk assessment. They’ll be well placed to talk about any risks that they have noticed day-to-day, which might not be immediately obvious.
Identifying hazards
How do I identify hazards when completing my risk assessment template?
You can use our risk assessment templates: General risk assessment for an office, General risk assessment for a shop or other business open to customers, and/or General risk assessment for remote workers to help you identify the hazards in your workplace.
You must identify things in your office which pose a risk to the health and safety of staff or visitors to your business premises. You may find it helpful to walk around your premises to consider what could potentially cause a hazard, and you must consult with your staff about what they think the risks are. It may also assist to check your accident book to see if there have been any problems.
A hazard can be anything that may cause harm. Hazards might be obvious (industrial machinery, dangerous chemicals) or more everyday (a low doorway, an open drawer). Don’t forget to consider the risk of psychological injuries as well as physical ones.
Be thorough when looking for hazards, but note you are only expected to anticipate risks which are reasonably foreseeable, meaning you do not have to predict every possible hazard, no matter how unlikely.
What sort of hazards should I look out for when completing my risk assessment template?
There are some risks that are common to most business premises. When you are performing your general risk assessment, you should look out for these risks in particular:
- slip and trip hazards such as deliveries not put away, cables across the floor, loose flooring, spills, rainwater etc;
- electrical equipment;
- fire hazards (these will generally be dealt with in your fire safety risk assessment – see Fire safety risk assessment template);
- risks associated with manual handling or lifting, for example moving stock or office furniture;
- environmental issues, such as ventilation, temperature or noise levels;
- general maintenance risks, such as damaged or defective equipment, storage, cleaning supplies and the presence of vermin or pests;
- risks associated with workstations, for example through the use of display screen equipment (DSE), poor posture or any repetitive movement;
- working at height (changing lightbulbs or putting up decorations are common examples of this), or objects falling from height (a risk in storage areas);
- risks caused by other people to the physical and mental health of your staff and the public, including as a result of violence or verbal abuse and stress;
- lone working (eg times of the day or tasks that see staff alone during their working day both on and off the premises);
- risks caused by unfamiliarity with the job or premises (this might be a particular issue for contractors or temporary workers);
- issues affecting workers experiencing symptoms of peri/menopause or other reproductive health issues, including temperature of the workspace, breaks and facilities.
This list is not exhaustive – you must keep an open mind to any risks specific to your industry (eg machinery, vehicle use, food handling) and your particular premises (eg low beams, stairs). For how to deal with any hazards you find, see Deciding what action to take.
What sort of hazards should I look for in my risk assessment for staff who work remotely?
See Staff working from home for guidance on the types of hazards to look for in your risk assessment for staff who work remotely. You can use General risk assessment for remote workers to help perform your risk assessment.
Do I have to keep a written record of my risk assessment template?
Yes, if you employ five or more people, you are legally required to keep written records of your risk assessment. If you have fewer than five employees, you do not have to write anything down (although you must still do risk assessments). However, even if you employ fewer people, it is sensible to record your risk assessments so you can refer back to them later if a problem arises.
You can record your risk assessments in General risk assessment for an office, General risk assessment for a shop or other business open to customers and General risk assessment for remote workers.
What must my written record of my risk assessments include?
If you are legally obliged to keep records, they must specify the findings of your risk assessment and identify any group of employees who are particularly at risk (eg lone workers, pregnant women etc).
General risk assessment for an office, General risk assessment for a shop or other business open to customers and General risk assessment for remote workers all contain the legally required information when filled in properly.
How long should I keep copies of my general risk assessments?
There is no legal minimum time that you must keep your risk assessments. The HSE recommends only that you keep them for as long as they remain relevant to your business.
As a general rule, five years should be suitable in most businesses. As an absolute minimum you should keep risk assessments for three years, this being the normal length of time anyone who is injured has to make a claim for compensation against your business. In some cases it will be appropriate to keep your risk assessments for much longer, for example it may be best to keep risk assessments relating to a particular manufacturing process for as long as that process is being carried out.
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Marion joined Sparqa Legal as a Senior Legal Editor in 2018. She previously worked as a corporate/commercial lawyer for five years at one of New Zealand’s leading law firms, Kensington Swan (now Dentons Kensington Swan), and as an in-house legal consultant for a UK tech company. Marion regularly writes for Sparqa’s blog, contributing across its commercial, IP and health and safety law content.