Task Risk Assessments

The introduction of the UK Health Workplace campaign, backed by the HSE, is to demystify the risk assessment process to show that risk assessment is not necessarily complicated or bureaucratic or a task for experts, it is about identifying practical actions to manage risks that have the potential to cause harm, using the knowledge and experience of the members of staff.

To comply with this, we selected a small team from Management, Supervisors and the cleaning workforce to meet with the Health & Safety Manager to look at each task in isolation with the view to:

Eliminating or reducing the potential to cause harm to themselves or other users of the building for each individual task.

Producing risk assessments that are clear, easy to read and have practical control measures that are achievable and sustainable, regardless of the task being carried out.

To incorporate the control measures identified for each task into all of our training programmes.

To continuously review our assessments.

To encourage staff ideas and suggestions.

Copies of the risk assessments are kept in the site-specific manual. Staff are informed on induction training of the location of the assessments and that they can have access to these at any time. If staff need clarification or any further information they know to contact their Area Manager or Supervisor.

We actively encourage our staff to put forward suggestions that could improve our Health & Safety procedures or methods of work.

The task risk assessments are reviewed annually or if the situation or method of work changes.