In order to create a safe environment, as identified in your Health and Safety Policy, the club must carry out regular risk assessments. These assessments are necessary to identify and remove any hazards and therefore reduce the risk of harm or injury to its members. Some definitions may be helpful:
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A HAZARD – defined as anything with the potential to cause harm.
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RISK – the chance that someone will be harmed by the hazard.
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RISK ASSESSMENT – a formal and recorded process to weigh up the suitability and safety of any activity by identifying the hazards that could potentially cause harm and taking the appropriate precautions or actions required to prevent harm or injury.
The risk assessment helps you to:
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Identify an unsafe condition
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Decide what corrective action is required
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Determine who is responsible for correcting it
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Follow up to ensure that it was corrected properly
To help you, there's a Risk Assessment template.
The frequency of assessment will be determined by a number of factors e.g. nature of the group, experience of staff, location or weather. Therefore risk assessments should be an ongoing process.
The risk assessment should be undertaken by a ‘competent’ person,. Ask other club members or committee members what they think as they may have noticed things which are not immediately obvious.
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Make an inventory of club activities and tasks.
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Identify the hazards for each of these activities – on and off site – and decide if the hazards are minor or significant.
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Evaluate the risks and decide whether the existing precautions are adequate or whether more should be done.
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Decide if the risk is acceptable and prioritise the significant hazards – identify whether the risk is high, medium or low by deciding which could result in serious harm or affect several people -see over page for more details on prioritising risks.
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Select method of control – check that all reasonable precautions have been taken to reduce the risk and avoid injury, however be aware that even after all precautions have been taken, some risk usually remains
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Record the findings - keep the written record for future reference, it can help if you become involved in any action for civil liability. It can also remind you to keep an eye on particular hazards and precautions.
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Implement measures to reduce the risks
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Monitor – ensure that the standards are maintained.
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Regularly review – it is good practice to review your assessment to make sure that the precautions are still working effectively.
Risk Ratings
Having completed the risk assessment, you should be able to clearly identify the risk rating i.e. the danger associated with each risk on a scale from Minimal to Intolerable, and prioritise the risks depending on how harmful the risks are, who may be harmed, to what extent, how likely etc. This is illustrated in the Risk Ratings schedule.
Improving health and safety need not cost a lot. For instance, placing a mirror on a dangerous blind corner to help prevent vehicle accidents, or putting some non-slip material on slippery steps, are inexpensive precautions considering the risks. Failure to take simple precautions can cost you a lot more if an accident does happen.
