Risk management involves considering what could happen if someone is exposed to a hazard and how likely it is to happen. As a first point of call you should always aim to eliminate risks. If you cannot eliminate the risks, you must minimise them so far as is reasonably practicable.
Risk management is recognised as an essential component of good management and governance. Regularly checking and updating your safety plans helps you make better decisions to keep your workplace safe.
Risk management should be used for both physical and psychological risks in the workplace. Psychological risks are risks that affect a person’s psychological health (their mental health).
Managing work health and safety risks involves four important steps.
Step 1: Identify hazards
Identify the hazard and find out what could cause harm. Hazards are things and situations that could harm a person or cause damage to property or equipment.
Step 2: Assess risks
Undertake a risk assessment to understand the nature of harm that could be caused by potential hazards. This will determine how serious that harm could be.
A risk assessment involves looking at what could happen if someone is exposed to a hazard and the chance of it occurring. A risk assessment can also help to ascertain:
- the severity of a risk
- whether your control measures are effective or need revising
- what action you should take to control the risk
- how imperative and urgent the required action is.
Note: This step might not be required if the hazards, risks and their control measures are already in place and widely known throughout your organisation.
Step 3: Control risks
Set control measures to manage and control risks.
You should aim to implement the most effective control measure that is reasonably practicable in the circumstances and always follow up to ensure it is maintained and sustained. To control risks you can follow the hierarchy of control measures. These measures are ranked from the highest to the lowest level of protection and reliability.
Step 4: Review control measures
Review hazards and control measures to ensure they are working as planned.
Risk management processes in the workplace will be implemented in different ways depending on the size and nature of your organisation. Larger businesses and those in sectors where workers are exposed to more or higher risks are likely to need more complex sophisticated risk management processes.
Control measures
You should always aim to eliminate risks, as this is the best way to manage risk. If you can’t eliminate risks, you must minimise risks so far as is reasonably practicable.
Use the hierarchy of control measures to control risks and reduce exposure to hazards. The ways of controlling risk are ranked from the highest level of protection and reliability to the lowest. Administrative controls and personal protective equipment (PPE) are the least effective. They do not control the hazard at the source and rely on human behaviour and supervision.
The hierarchy of control measures can be applied to any risk and must be applied where it is not reasonably practicable to eliminate risks linked to:
- remote or isolated work
- hazardous atmospheres or chemicals
- hazardous manual tasks
- falls or falling objects
- plant, electrical or construction work
- hearing loss associated with noise
- general diving work
- confined spaces
- naturally occurring asbestos.
For detailed information, see How to manage work health and safety risks in the workplace: Code of practice.