How should I prepare to review a risk assessment?

GUIDANCE

In this article, we examine the resources and approvals it would be sensible to obtain prior to completing a review of your risk assessment. 

What resources do you need to complete a pool risk assessment? 

To complete a risk assessment, you should have some or all of the following information available for review: 

• The current risk assessment. 
• Incident trends, reports and data over an appropriate period.  
• Time scheduled to observe or discuss the process with the affected parties. 
• Any guidance or best practice on the subject. 
• The last site audit and/or inspection results in which this topic was included. 
• Guidance from your regional/group health and safety team.

What approvals do you need? 

Before implementing changes to your risk assessment, you should: 

• Notify your line manager and the responsible person for health and safety that you are undertaking a review of the assessment. Other sites may be affected by your updates or results. 
• Confirm with the responsible person that you have identified all relevant sources of guidance on the topic. 
• Consolidate the results of your review and seek approval to implement your recommendations. 
• Make appropriate amendments based on the advice of your responsible person for health and safety. 
• Seek clarification from an independent health and safety advisor if necessary. Your employer will likely already have someone in place to assist. 

Once you have implemented your changes, you should: 

• Record the results achieved by your changes (good or bad). 
• Inform your responsible person immediately if the changes result in an increased risk to the health and safety of employees or others. Cease operating the changes where it would place individuals at immediate risk of harm. 
• Review whether similar improvements could be achieved within other areas of the health and safety management system. 
• Periodically monitor and review the results of your changes. 

Citation: Jacklin, D. 2021. How should I prepare to review a risk assessment? Water Incident Research Hub, 28 December.