Construction & Built Environment Level 3

Unit 1. Health , Safety and welfare in construction and the Built Environment

RISK ASSESSMENT
Risk assessment
• Is a methodology used to decide
on priorities and to set
objectives for eliminating
hazards and reducing risks.

 Wherever possible, risks are

eliminated through selection and
design of facilities, equipment and
processes.

 If risks cannot be eliminated, they

are minimized by the use of
physical controls or, as a last
resort, through systems of work
and personal protective equipment.
defines the limits to the risk assessment process.
A suitable and sufficient risk assessment should:
the risk assessment shall be Identify the significant risks and ignore the trivial
‘suitable and sufficient’ and cover ones
both employees and non-employees. identify and prioritize the measures required to
comply with any relevant statutory provisions
Remain appropriate to the nature of the work and
valid over a reasonable period of time.
 The objectives of risk assessment
Why a Risk assessments should take place?
• To determine the measures required by the organization to
comply with relevant health and safety legislation.
• To reduce the level of occupational injuries and ill-health.
Specific hazard legislations
• Manual handling of loads – the risks with moving loads have to
be assessed.
• Control of Substances Hazardous to Health (COSHH) – the
risks of using chemicals.
• Personal protective equipment (PPE) – the risks of using PPE.
• Construction (Design and Management) Regulations – the
risks and hazards on site.
• Management of Health, Safety and Welfare Regulations – the
risks and hazards at work.
 Principles of risk assessment
• The principles of risk assessment are set out under Regulation
of the Management of Health, Safety and Welfare Regulations
1999.

• Every employer must make an assessment of the risk to their workers

and non-employees at work.

• The risk assessment that is undertaken must be reviewed in the light

of any changes.

• Specific risk assessments must be carried out onyoung persons

employed at work.

• Where an employer employs five or more people, the assessment

must be recorded in writing.
Risk Assessments & Method Statements

• By law Risk Assessments must be completed for all work activities

• Risk Assessments help identify hazards in the workplace (anything at

work that can harm you) and will show you how to do a job safely

• You do not have to prepare your own Risk Assessments

• The findings of a Risk Assessment will result in the production of a

Method statement – this indicates the safest and correct way to do a job

• If you find that you cannot do a job in accordance with the Method
Statement do not start work until you have spoken to your supervisor
 Forms of risk assessment
• A quantitative risk assessment attempts to measure the risk
by relating the probability of the risk occurring to the possible
severity of the outcome and then giving the risk a numerical
value. * used in situations where a malfunction could be very
serious.

• The more common form of risk assessment is the qualitative

assessment which is based purely on personal judgment and
is normally defined as high, medium or low.
 used to determine the time frame in which further action is to be taken.

• generic’ risk assessment describes a risk assessment which covers

similar activities or work equipment in different departments, sites or
companies.
Risk assessment is used to identify changes and the safe
system of work associated with it requires that these are
reviewed.
Factors might include the following:
• The workplace activity has changed.
• The processes used have changed.
• New materials are being used.
• Inexperienced new operatives.
• A change in safety legislation.
Risk assessments have to be reviewed and signed off with
a date of review and any actions to be taken. Any actions
investigated and put in place must be clearly recorded.
 Risk rating of hazards
• The identification of hazards relies on training, knowledge
and experience of construction. This is especially so when
you have to identify hidden hazards that are not
immediately obvious to the eye.
• Hazards can be classified high, medium or low.
• Risks can be rated by the likelihood that the hazard will
cause harm and the severity of that harm were it to occur.
The mathematical formula to do this is:
Risk = Likelihood × Severity
 risk matrix
• Employers often use numbers as they are much smaller
to squeeze onto a risk assessment form, and have a key
to reflect what the numbers mean.
• The calculation may place the risk rating into a 4 × 4 = 16,
which means the likelihood of it occurring is certain and
the severity is fatal,

Meaning of colors
green (okay with existing controls)
yellow (further measures)
red( work being risk assessed is too dangerous to continue with)
Look closely at the reinforcing rods sticking
out of this slab that is ready to be cast.
What do you notice?
The rods have caps over them to protect
operatives should they fall onto the rods.

This is called a ‘control measure’ and is

used to reduce the risk to an acceptable
level.
 The five steps to risk assessment
1. Identify the hazards.
2. Decide who might be harmed.
3. Evaluate the risks and precautions to be taken.
4. Record your findings.
5. Review your assessment and update.

IDERR
 Identify the hazards
• Hazard identification is the crucial first step of risk
assessment. Only significant hazards, which could result
in serious harm to people, should be identified. Trivial
hazards should be ignored.

• A review of accident, incident and ill-health records.

• So help with the identification.
 Decide who might be harmed.

• Employees and contractors who work full time at the site

or workplace are the most obvious groups at risk and it
will be necessary check that they are competent to
perform their particular tasks.

• The persons at risk could be site operatives, surveyors,

transport drivers, building inspectors, other visitors and
the general public.

• It must also give an indication of the numbers of people

from the different groups who come into contact with the
hazard and the frequency of these contacts.
 Evaluation of risk level
• During most risk assessment it will be noted that some of
the risks posed by the hazard have already been
addressed or controlled.

• The purpose of the risk assessment, therefore, is to

reduce the remaining risk. This is called the residual risk.

• The goal of risk assessment is to reduce all residual risks

to as low a level as reasonably practicable.
 Risk control measures
• The effectiveness of these controls needs to be assessed
so that an estimate of the residual risk may be made.
• Hazards have specific acts, regulations or other
recognized standards developed to reduce associated
risks.
• Where there are existing preventative measures in place,
it is important to check that they are working properly and
that everybody affected has a clear understanding of the
measures.
 Hierarchy of risk control
When assessing the adequacy of existing controls or introducing new
controls, The Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations
specifies the general principles of prevention :
1. avoiding risks
2. evaluating the risks which cannot be avoided
3. combating the risks at source
4. adapting the work to the individual, especially as regards the design of
the workplace, the choice of work equipment and the choice of working
and production methods, with a view, in particular, to alleviating
monotonous work and work at a predetermined work-rate and to reducing
their effects on health
5. adapting to technical progress
6. replacing the dangerous by the non-dangerous or the less dangerous
7. developing a coherent overall prevention policy which covers
technology, organization of work, working conditions, social relationships
and the influence of factors relating to the working environment
8. giving collective protective measures priority over individual protective
measures and
9. giving appropriate instruction to employees.
 These principles are not exactly a hierarchy but must be
considered alongside the usual hierarchy of risk control
which is as follows:
• elimination
• substitution
• engineering controls (e.g. isolation, insulation and
ventilation)
• reduced or limited time exposure
• good housekeeping
• safe systems of work
• training and information
• personal protective equipment
• welfare
• monitoring and supervision
• reviews.
Risk assessment forms
• A risk assessment form should contain the
following:
• Where is the work or activity going to be carried
out?
• Undertake the same operation in two different
places and the hazards will be different.
• Date of assessment – when did it take place?
This will give you an indication of how old the risk
assessment is. Does it need reviewing in the light
of a change in conditions?
• Identify what the work activity is, e.g. using a
pedestal drill to drill holes through some
steelwork.
• Identify the hazards – the primary and most
important hazards should be listed.
• Who might be harmed in this workplace? For
example, visitors, employees, supervisors and
members of the general public.
• Evaluation of the risk – what risk is there from the
hazards you have identified?
• What are the existing control measures? Look
closely and record what you are doing currently to
control the risk from the hazards.
• Any further action/controls required – if the
existing control measures are not effective, what
further
• action must be taken to reduce the risk from the
hazards to an acceptable level?
• Who will make sure additional controls are in
place?
• Who will undertake the work on further controls
and
• when will it be done? An accident could result if
you fail to act quickly.
• Signed and dated – you may need to identify the
person who undertook the risk assessment
especially in an accident investigation.
• A review date – risk assessments will need
reviewing periodically with any changes in
systems of work, technology and further health
and safety legislation.
 Advantages of using a standard risk
assessment form
• All the boxes have to be completed, so nothing can be missed
during your assessment.
• The risk assessment can be continually reviewed to improve it.
• Health and safety policy can be written into the risk
assessment format.
• It can be made as simple or as complex as necessary for the
type of work being assessed.

Special cases
• There are several groups of persons who require an additional
risk assessment due to their being more ‘at risk’ than other
groups. Three such groups will be considered – young
persons, expectant and nursing mothers and disabled workers.
Environmental aspects
• Working within hot and cold environments
• Working over water
• Confined spaces
• Access and egress
Methods of hazard identification on a construction site
• Observation of work environment (How can you identify the
hazards on a construction site? The most useful method is by
direct observation.
• Checklists and method statements
• Checklists are a standard sheet produced for a particular
workplace environment. The hazards are then identified by a
safety audit or inspection which involves walking around the
environment and ticking off the hazards from the pre-set list.
• The use of accident data
• Safety inspections and audits
FES Risk Assessment

Location – A building site Date / Period – 01-02-2014 to 05-02-2014

Completed by – Mr Watson Completed on 02-02-2014

Description of Project – Installing wooded staircase between ground floor and first floor of domestic house

Section 4 – Guidance
Severity: (S) 1= no injury/illness 2=first aid injury/illness 3=minor injury /illness up to 3 days away 4=3+ day injury illness 5=major
injury/illness 6=fatality or disabling injury or illness.
Likelihood: (L) 1=very remote 2=improbable 3=possible 4=probable 5=likely 6=certainty
Risk Rating (RR) = (SxL) Priority rating: 14+ High Medium 5-13 Low 1-4

Hazard People At Control Measures Risk Rating Action

Risk Needed
Small flying objects from Anyone in direct All personnel on site to wear safety glasses 2 x 2 = 4 Low Safety Manager
high speed cutting tools vicinity. at all times. to monitor that
such as power saws and all personnel are
routers. wearing safety
glasses
Trips and Slips All personnel Site to be kept tidy at all times, site 2 x 2 = 4 Low None
operatives to use suitable tool box or storage
system.
Falling from upper floor All Personnel Use temporary safety rail, restrict access to 2 x 4 = 8 Medium None
before hand new area, signage
banister in place.
Example of a risk assessment record