Most people at some time have said, or heard someone else say, 'I knew that was going to happen', when some
precariously balanced item has fallen over. Of course, the person did not really know it was going to happen, what they actually did was a simple assessment
of the risk (likelihood) that it could happen (but for some reason did not do anything to resolve the risk!)
Much the same thing happens in work situations, often due to hurry,
distraction or an incorrect estimate of the level of risk. The HSE has sponsored research that has identified common pitfalls when conducting
a risk assessment.
These include:
- Carrying out an assessment to attempt to justify a decision that has already been made
- Using a generic assessment when a specific assessment is needed
- Only considering the risk from one activity
- Not involving a team of people in the assessment or not including employees with practical knowledge of the process/activity being assessed
- Ineffective use of consultants
- Failure to identify all the hazards associated with a particular activity
- Not linking hazards with risk controls
- Not doing anything with the results of the assessment
The research report (RR151) is available free from the HSE website www.hse.gov.uk/research/rrhtm/rr151.htm |
