What Is a Workplace Risk Assessment?
What Is a Workplace Risk Assessment?
A workplace risk assessment is a structured process used to identify hazards, determine who may be harmed, evaluate the level of risk and decide what controls are needed to reduce that risk to an acceptable level.
A proper risk assessment should reflect the actual work being performed, the people involved, the equipment used, the work environment and any foreseeable abnormal or emergency conditions.
Altra Medical assists employers with practical risk assessments that can be used to support safe work procedures, training requirements, legal appointments, emergency planning and wider OHS compliance.
Purpose of Conducting Risk Assessments
Risk assessments are the starting point of an occupational health and safety management system and aim to:
- Identify who may be at risk (e.g. employees, cleaners, visitors, contractors, the public, etc.).
- Determine control measures required to manage hazards.
- Determine if controls are affective and if additional controls are required to ensure safety at a workplace
- Prevent injury, disease, damage to equipment and property
- Prioritize hazards and controls
- Meet the employers legal requirements
- Create awareness of hazards and risks
How Altra Medical Conducts Workplace Risk Assessments
You may choose to train your own team to conduct workplace risk assessments, or you can appoint Altra Medical to complete the assessment for you.
Our risk assessment process can include:
- Reviewing the workplace, activities and work environment
- Identifying hazards linked to specific tasks and areas
- Identifying who may be exposed to those hazards
- Assessing the level of risk using an appropriate risk methodology
- Reviewing existing control measures
- Recommending additional controls where needed
- Prioritising significant risks for management attention
- Supporting the development of safe work procedures and training requirements
- Reviewing the assessment when work, equipment, processes or conditions change
The aim is to give management a practical risk assessment that can actually be used to control workplace hazards, not just a document that sits in a file.
Fire Risk Assessment Services
Fire risk assessment is a specialist part of workplace risk management. It focuses on the potential for fire to start, spread and affect people, property and business operations.
A suitable fire risk assessment should consider ignition sources, combustible materials, occupancy, means of escape, fire detection and alarm systems, portable fire equipment, fixed fire-protection systems, emergency arrangements and the effectiveness of existing controls.
Altra Medical can assess the workplace and identify fire-safety gaps that may need to be addressed to improve both legal compliance and practical fire safety.
Steps of a Fire Risk Assessment
Our fire risk assessment process may include:
- Inspecting the buildings, work areas and fire compartments
- Identifying people who may be at risk
- Identifying ignition sources and combustible materials
- Reviewing means of escape and emergency routes
- Assessing fire detection and alarm arrangements
- Reviewing portable fire equipment and fixed fire-protection systems
- Reviewing emergency procedures and fire-response arrangements
- Identifying gaps against applicable legal and SANS requirements
- Providing a practical report with recommended corrective actions and priorities