week 10- Evaluation of Risk Assessment procedure

Evaluation of Risk Assessment procedure

Health and safety at work is an important part of LV=’s overall commitment to all its staff’s health and wellbeing. The organisation aims at providing a safe and healthy workplace for all employees by improving on its legal health and safety responsibilities where ever it’s possible.

All members of staff have a legal obligation to make sure the workplace is safe and not a danger to health.

Health and safety policy is broken down to 3 areas.

1-       Management and employee policy explaining specific day to day health and safety policies.

2-        2- Set of health and safety procedures including relevant forms/documents.

3-       3- High level general health and safety policy outlining key legal and individual responsibilities.

Within the policies/procedures there is a whole section dedicated to risk assessment, relevant forms that need to be completed by management plus step by step guide (PowerPoint presentation) to assist new management and deputy staff who would assist teams in their manager’s absence.

Identifying potential hazards and managing risk to safety and health is essential in ensuring that LV= maintains a safe working environment and the organisation policy highlights that risk assessment is fundamental to all health and safety requirements and standards.

The Majority of the main Risk assessment is carried out by the specific health and safety department and especially trained members of that department. However certain risk assessments falls within management’s responsibilities. LV= highlights the importance of Risk management to all staff through online modules that need to be completed twice a year. It states that this activity is important as it identifies any risk to health and safety of employees and any others affected by the organisations activities such as any building work, restructuring (new chairs and desks etc).

As part of a risk assessment process control measures should be put in place to either remove or reduce the risk to health and safety from the workplace. There is no point in identifying a risk and not put in to place a corrective action. LV= has taken into account regulatory requirements at every stage to comply with the regulation e.g. certain employees must complete a written risk assessment on activities that could/or do present significant health and safety risk to themselves or other staff with in the workplace and a copy of all these documents need to be held by the Health and safety department as well as Human Resources. These assessments will be held where risk is likely to be encountered. Staff and other individual at risk will be made aware of the findings and precautionary measures that will be taken or they would need to take.

Risk assessments are reviewed on a regular basis for example if management believe the assessment is no longer valued or if there has been significant change in the matters that the assessment relates to. For example if a member of staff moves desk a reassessment is necessary to ensure the environment is suitable for that individual to work effectively.

Although LV=‘s offices are low risk environments it is important to carry out risk assessment when new staff join the company (within the first 28 days), come back to work after period of sickness/ injury or as soon as an employee makes their employee aware they are pregnant. This assessment outlines possible hazards that an employee may encounter at work as well as minimum control measures that should remain in place. To ensure the working environment is suitable a Display Screen Equipment Assessment ‘DSE’ (required by Law) must be carried out at the same time as the risk assessment. Copy of both assessments must be kept by line managers and both original copies sent to the H&S manager. These assessments should be regularly reviewed in case anything changes and if any issues rose by the H&S department need to be immediately made aware of.

DSE is carried out on all employees including laptop users, home workers to ensure work environment is comfortable and efficient as possible.

LV= updates and reviews the risk assessment forms on yearly basis. The only change/ improvement that I would suggest would be for the assessments forms to take into consideration the use of new technology equipment such as I-pads and I-phones and their impacts on staff’s wellbeing if they are using this equipment for a long period of time. In general all procedures LV= has in place are good and meet regulatory and staff’s needs.

Tutors comments before amendments were made: 

Mona

Would you be able to attach a copy of your risk assessment form?

Also, just a very brief summing up – evaluation - of your thoughts, other than your one recommendation, if overall, procedures are good or not.

Vaughan