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FAQs
At Pacific American Risk, we are proud of the meticulous attention
we give every single one of our clients. This attention to detail
is one reason why they keep coming back to us whenever they have made
changes in their business practices or fear they may have come up
against another unforeseen business risk factor.
We also like to provide a variety of information that will keep both
clients and site visitors alike well informed and well educated. Simply
click on any link provided below to access that particular area of
our Frequently Asked Questions page.
Definitions
Risk Assessment
Sensible Risk Management
Precautionary Principle
Definitions
What
is a hazard?
A hazard is anything with the potential to cause harm, e.g. working
at height on scaffolding.
What is risk?
A risk is the likelihood that a hazard will cause a specified harm
to someone or something, e.g. if there are no guardrails on construction
scaffolding it is likely that a construction worker will fall and
break a bone.
What is risk management?
Risk Management
is a process that involves assessing the risks that arise in your
workplace, putting sensible health and safety measures in place to
control them and then making sure they work in practice.
What is risk assessment?
A risk assessment
is nothing more than a careful examination of what, in your work,
could cause harm to people, so that you can weigh up whether you have
taken enough precautions or should do more to prevent harm.
What do "ALARP" and “SFAIRP” mean?
You may come across these abbreviations. ALARP stands for “as
low as reasonably practicable” and SFAIRP stands for “so
far as is reasonably practicable.”
What does “reasonably practicable” mean?
This means that you have to take action to control the health and
safety risks in your workplace except where the cost (in terms of
time and effort as well as money) of doing so is “grossly disproportionate”
to the reduction in the risk. You can work this out for yourself,
or you can simply apply accepted good practice.
For more
definitions on important risk management/insurance terminology, please
visit our Glossary.
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Risk
Assessment
Why is
risk assessment important?
Managing health and safety risks puts you in control since it leaves
your business less open to chance. A risk
assessment helps to prevent accidents and ill health to you, your
workers and members of the public. Accidents and ill health can ruin
lives and harm your business too if output is lost, equipment is damaged,
insurance costs increase or you have to go to court. You are legally
required to assess the risks in your workplace so that you can put
in place a plan to control the risks.
Who
do I involve in a risk assessment?
Make sure that you involve employees and safety representatives in
carrying out the assessment. Remember to speak to workers who may
have particular requirements e.g., new and young workers, new or expectant
mothers, and people with disabilities.
What
things do I have to include in a risk assessment record?
In your risk assessment you need to be able to show that:
•
A proper check of the hazards was made;
• You asked who might be affected;
• You dealt with all the obvious significant hazards, taking
into account the number of people who could be involved;
• The precautions are reasonable, and the remaining risk is
low; and
• You involved your staff or their representatives in the process.
When
do I need to do a risk assessment?
You should carry
out an assessment before you do the work that gives rise to the
risk, and review it as necessary.
When should I review my risk assessments?
Few workplaces stay the same. Sooner or later, you will bring in new
equipment, substances and procedures, and that could lead to new hazards.
Therefore, you will need to review where you are every year or so,
to make sure you are still improving, or at least not sliding back.
Check your risk assessment and where necessary, amend it. If possible,
it is best to think about the risk assessment when you're planning
your change - that way you leave yourself more flexibility. ?
What do you mean by "good practice" and how do I
find it?
Good practice refers to practices that have been acknowledged by HSE
or local authorities as representing standards of compliance with
the law. It doesn’t mean “custom and practice” necessarily
– that can be poor practice. There are many sources of good
practice and HSE works with industries to produce good practice guidance.
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Sensible
Risk Management
Do
I need to get consultants in to do my risk assessment?
In most cases, this is not necessary. Risk assessment is a straightforward
process that most people can do, given a little time and effort. You
will probably need help if you have particularly hazardous or complex
processes, but for the majority of organizations, you or a competent
member of staff should be able to complete a satisfactory assessment.
Just use your common sense: you don’t need an electrician to
re-wire a plug, but most people would need one to re-wire their house.
It’s the same with risk assessment. For more information, please
visit our comprehensive Knowledge
Center.
Do I have to record the findings of the risk assessment? If
so, why? Isn’t that just bureaucracy?
Health and safety law requires that you keep a record of the significant
findings of your assessment if you employ five or more people. It
makes sense to keep a record of the assessment so that when you come
to review it, you can check back to see if anything has changed. It
is also useful to keep a record so that you can share the findings
with your staff. Finally, it proves that you have carried out the
process if a health and safety inspector asks about it.
Isn’t risk assessment nonsense? Everybody is grown-up
in my firm and can look after themselves.
All workers are entitled to work in environments where risks to their
health and safety are properly controlled. Under health and safety
law, the primary responsibility for this is down to employers. Doing
a risk assessment is the key to preventing accidents and ill health
in your workplace to you, your workers and members of the public.
Accidents and ill health can ruin lives and harm your business too
if output is lost, equipment is damaged, insurance costs increase
or you have to go to court.
However, workers also have a duty to take care of their own health
and safety and that of others who may be affected by their actions.
Health and safety legislation, therefore, requires employers and workers
to cooperate. Involving workers and their representatives in your
risk assessment is one of the best ways of doing this. For information
on risk management and risk assessment, please click
here.
Doesn’t risk assessment just lead to more and more unnecessary
safety measures?
No. When done properly, it should identify the measures that are needed
to reduce the risk as low as reasonably practicable” and not
further. It is important to remember that risk assessment can show
that a process is safe enough with the measures you already have in
place, and no more need be done.
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Precautionary
Principle
What is
the precautionary principle?
The precautionary principle should be applied only in very particular
circumstances. It is highly unlikely to be relevant to your work.
The precautionary
principle says that where you have good reason to believe that something
might cause harm but there isn’t enough scientific knowledge
to carry out a full risk assessment, this should not be used as an
excuse to do nothing to prevent harm. The precautionary principle
is therefore applied to a few new hazards until enough is learned
about the risks they present. It should not be applied to well-known
hazards where the broad level of risk has been established.
Are
we too risk averse?
We don’t think so. Our approach is to seek a balance between
the unachieveable aim of absolute safety and the kind of poor management
of risks that damages lives and the economy. In a nutshell: risk management,
not risk elimination. We consult widely on our proposals and we listen
carefully to those who have views different from our own. For more
information about us, please click
here.
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For more information
on Risk Management, please click
here.
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