Introduction Background and Objective Any employer, who employs more than 5 people, has to carry out a risk assessments of his work activities and record his findings. This is a careful, systematic examination of the activities that could cause harm to people so that a decision can be taken as to whether sufficient precautions have been taken to prevent potential harm. Legal Requirements In order to be suitable and sufficient and to comply with legal requirements, a risk assessment must: identify all the hazards associated with the operation, and evaluate the risks associated with those hazards, taking into account current legal requirements identify any group of employees or single employees who are especially at risk identify others who may be at risk e.g. visitors, contractors and members of the public evaluate existing controls, stating whether or not they are satisfactory, and if not, what action should be taken evaluate the need for information, instruction, training and supervision judge and record the likelihood of an accident occurring as a result of uncontrolled risk, including the worst case outcome record any circumstances arising from the assessment where serious and imminent danger could arise, and provide an action plan giving information on implementation of additional controls, in order of priority, and with a realistic time scale Conducting a Risk Assessment is a five stage process. 1. Identification of all the hazards 2. Who are the persons at risk and where 3. Measurement of the risks 4. Evaluation of the risks 5. Implementation of the measures to eliminate or control the risks, and 6. Monitoring and review.
Principles and Objectives Risk Assessments centre on two principles, Hazards and Risks. A hazard is anything that can cause harm [e.g. chemicals, electricity, working from ladders] A risk is the chance, great or small, that someone will be harmed by the hazard. The basic objective of a risk assessment is that, as a result of the exercise, the hazard is eliminated altogether. If it cannot be eliminated, then questions are asked as to how the risks can be controlled so that harm is unlikely. A hierarchy of control is as follows: 1. Elimination of the risk completely, by stopping a practice or withdrawing a substance 2. Substitution with something less risky 3. Enclosure of the risk so that access is denied 4. Fitting guards to prevent access to danger points 5. Safe systems of work that reduce the risk to an acceptable level 6. Written procedures and safety instructions 7. Supervision, particularly for young or inexperienced workers 8. Training 9. Information by means of signs and notices 10. Personal protective equipment [the last resort]. The amount of management control required increases the further down the list the solution is found. For example, if the practice is stopped, the risk is eliminated and there is no management control required. However if the solution is merely to provide PPE then there still remains a considerable degree of management control. Using and Amending Risk Assessments There will be no benefit in a risk assessment unless it is used. Many of the risk assessments, especially those for asbestos and water, refer to a nominated person, generally the General Manager and it is essential that this person has a working knowledge of the document. Risk assessments may need amending once they have been written, for example: [a] after a period of time, often 12 months, and [b] when a process changes i.e. a hotel purchases a compactor to compact waste material [c] when a change of activity or process takes place
This is best achieved by a combination of safety inspection and monitoring techniques, including preventive maintenance inspections, external audits, internal inspections, feedback and comments from staff, recent accidents, damage to plant and near misses. If a serious accident occurs either within the organization or within the industry then too is an ideal time to review a risk assessment. The local and national press provide much information in this respect. Portland Hotel Management provides Generic Risk Assessments which focus on all legal requirements (see below). If required an additional risk assessment should be carried out for specific cases and situations. This will be attached to the generic assessment. The same format is to be used (see Form Section for sample) The Risk Assessment Grading Grid The Risk Assessments have been written using a grid system that dictates the priority of the risk. The grid is as follows: Unlikely Possible Likely Minor Injury Minor reversible ill health TRIVIAL RISK Usually no action required LOW RISK Consider improvements, low urgency but Action needed Major Injury Major Ill health LOW RISK ACTION NEEDED HIGH RISK Urgent action needed Possible fatality, Irreversible major ill health HIGH RISK ACTION NEEDED CRITICAL RISK STOP UNTIL MAJOR CHANGES ARE MADE
Hotel General Generic Risk Assessments Each hotel in Portland Hotel Management has a set of General Generic Risk Assessments (GGRA) that has been prepared by an outside consultant. These risk assessments are not finite, but living documents, which need to be consulted, examined, discussed, trained and must be freely available within the hotel. Individual risk assessments based on hotel specific reviews are carried out in each property and the amended hotel risk assessments are attached with the generic risk assessments. Generic Risk Assessment Categories The Generic Risk Assessments have the following categories: 1. General All Concerned This first category focuses on all areas of the hotel where the majority of guests, visitors, contractors and all staff are concerned. All members of staff have to be aware and inducted on these topics which includes: Slip Trip and Fall Manual Handling Struck by moving and/or falling objects Etc Specific emphasis should be placed on the training and induction of these top key documents. Fire and crisis management is explained separately in further detail. The entire list of All Concerned Risk Assessments and indeed all other risk assessments will be found in Volume 5 Risk Assessments of the Essential Document Folder. The other categories are broken down into the following areas: 2. Heads of Departments and Duty Managers 3. Departments Administration, office and clerical works Housekeeping Kitchen Food & Beverage Service Maintenance Leisure Facilities In addition, each hotel has a specific Asbestos Risk Assessments
Review and Induction Procedure The Hotel General Generic RAs cover key areas in the hotel. All staff and management have to review and consult these RA annually. The process should as follows Step 1 Each department head reviews all generic risk assessments (including his/her own department s risk assessments) Any changes to the generic risk assessments have to be noted and amendments have to written, using the designated form (see Form Folder) All staff members and managers have to sign training sheets confirming that they have reviewed and consulted the risk assessments Then the department head signs all his/her departmental risk assessments. Department heads also sign training sheets for all general risk assessments. Any amended risk assessments will be attached to the generic risk assessment. Step 2 Step 3 After completing the departmental review, the General Manager signs all risk assessments. The H&S auditor will then sign off all documents (after reviewing any amendments), confirming that the induction and review has taken place The original signed risk assessments are kept in Volume 5 Risk Assessments of the Essential Document folder. It is up to the General Manager where this folder is stored. Each department has a set of copies of all departmental and other relevant risk assessments. Additional and new risk assessments are carried out as described above. Ownership and Responsibilities The Hotel General Manager is responsible for ensuring that assessments are up to date and cover all of the activities within the hotel. For further information please also consult: http://www.hse.gov.uk/catering http://www.hse.gov.uk/risk/principles.htm http://www.hse.gov.uk/pubns/catering1.pdf