When Should You Review a Risk Assessment?
You should review a risk assessment regularly to ensure any chances of accidents, injuries, or harm are minimised and under control. Generally, it’s advisable to review any risk assessment at least once a year so that it remains up to date. Things can change that may affect the latest risk assessment.
There is no legal time frame for when you need to review a risk assessment, but you must legally carry one out initially. It’s your discretion as an employer to decide when to review a risk assessment. However, if you don’t review it regularly and a serious accident occurs then there could be severe consequences.
Regular risk assessment reviews help protect your employees, customers, the general public, and your business. Get an idea of when and why you need to review risk assessments with answers to a couple of common questions.
How often should a risk assessment be reviewed?
Risk assessments are not a one-off, they’re not something you tick off and then forget about. It’s important to keep your health and safety standards up to date, so a minimum of an annual review of every risk assessment is advisable. In some cases, you may want to review it more frequently.
If anything changes in your workplace that affects a previous risk assessment then it’s time to review it. Activities, working practices, personnel, environmental factors, and any other changes could introduce new risks or mean old ones may resurface. For the most serious risk assessments like fire hazards, you might want to check them more often too.
Schedule an annual risk assessment review to stay safe. It’s vital you keep an updated record of every type of risk assessment conducted and the date to ensure none are missed. Try our online risk assessment software to stay on top of your reviews. Enjoy a free 15-day trial to find out how it can help your business.
What could be a reason to review a risk assessment?
If anything changes in your workplace then it could be a good time to review a risk assessment. Regular reviews also help ensure your business remains compliant with the relevant health and safety laws. A few common reasons to review a risk assessment include when:
- Workers encounter problems – if staff complain of pain or issues doing their job then it could be a sign that something is unsafe. High turnover, absenteeism, and sick days may also signal that it’s time for a fresh risk assessment.
- Hiring new employees – introducing new workers may bring new hazards, if there are more people using machinery, spaces, and equipment. Depending on the nature of work it might be a good idea to review risk assessments if the original one only accounted for a set number of employees.
- An accident occurs – even if there’s a near miss or only a minor injury you should investigate it. Conducting a new risk assessment is an easy way to determine the cause, highlight any hazards, and put in place fresh control measures.
- Tasks change – changes to working practices, equipment, the site, substances used, and procedures could bring new hazards. Any changes to roles and work require a new risk assessment to account for potential new hazards.
- Complaints are made – if members of the public, customers, or visitors to your site or premises complain about something then you should investigate it. This can depend on the nature of the complaint but reviewing a risk assessment is important to ensure safety standards are upheld.
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