Introduction to Health and Safety at Work

5.1 
Introduction
Risk assessment is an essential part of the planning 
stage of any health and safety management system. 
HSE, in the publication HSG 65 
Successful Health and 
Safety Management
, states that the aim of the planning 
process is to minimize risks.
Risk assessment methods are used to decide 
on priorities and to set objectives for elim-
inating hazards and reducing risks. Wherever 
possible, risks are eliminated through selec-
tion and design of facilities, equipment and 
processes. If risks cannot be eliminated, they 
are minimized by the use of physical controls 
or, as a last resort, through systems of work 
and personal protective equipment.
5.2 
Legal aspects of risk assessment
The general duties of employers to their employees 
in section 2 of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 
imply the need for risk assessment. This duty was 
also extended by section 3 of the Act to anybody else 
affected by activities of the employer – contractors, visit-
ors, customers or members of the public. However, the 
Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 
are much more specifi c concerning the need for risk 
assessment. The following requirements are laid down in 
those regulations:
the risk assessment shall be ‘suitable and 
suffi cient’ and cover both employees and 
67
5
Risk assessment
Figure 5.1
Reducing the risk – fi nding an alternative to 
fi tting a wall-mounted boiler.

---

Introduction to Health and Safety at Work
68
non-employees affected by the employer’s 
undertaking (e.g. contractors, members of 
the public, students, patients, customers, 
etc.); every self-employed person shall make 
a ‘suitable and suffi cient’ assessment of the 
risks to which they or those affected by the 
undertaking may be exposed; 
any risk assessment shall be reviewed if there 
is reason to suspect that it is no longer valid 
or if a signifi cant change has taken place; 
where there are more than four employees, 
the signifi cant fi ndings of the assessment shall 
be recorded and any specially at risk group 
of employees identifi ed. (This does not mean 
that employers with four or less employees 
need not undertake risk assessments.)
The term ‘suitable and suffi cient’ is important since it 
defi nes the limits to the risk assessment process. A suit-
able and suffi cient risk assessment should:
➤
identify the signifi cant risks and ignore the trivial 
ones;
➤
identify and prioritize the measures required to com-
ply with any relevant statutory provisions;
➤
remain appropriate to the nature of the work and 
valid over a reasonable period of time.
When assessing risks under the Management of Health 
and Safety at Work Regulations, reference to other regu-
lations may be necessary even if there is no specifi c 
requirement for a risk assessment in those regulations. 
For example, reference to the legal requirements of the 
Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations will 
be necessary when risks from the operation of machin-
ery are being considered. However, there is no need 
to repeat a risk assessment if it is already covered by 
other regulations (e.g. a risk assessment involving 
personal protective equipment is required under the 
COSHH Regulations so there is no need to undertake a 
separate risk assessment under the Personal Protective 
Equipment Regulations).
Apart from the duty under the Management of Health 
and Safety at Work Regulations to undertake a health 
and safety risk assessment of any person (employees, 
contractors or members of the public), who may be 
affected by the activities of the organization, the follow-
ing regulations require a specifi c risk assessment to be 
made:
➤
Ionising Radiation Regulations
➤
Control of Asbestos Regulations
➤
The Control of Noise at Work Regulations
➤
Manual Handling Operations Regulations
➤
Health and Safety (Display Screen Equipment) 
Regulations
➤
The Personal Protective Equipment at Work 
Regulations
➤
The 
Confi ned Spaces Regulations
➤
Work at Height Regulations
➤
The Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order
➤
The Control of Vibration at Work Regulations
➤
Control of Lead at Work Regulations
➤
Control of Substances Hazardous to Health 
Regula tions.
A detailed comparison of the risk assessments required 
for most of these and more specialist regulations is given 
in the HSE Guide to Risk Assessment Requirements, 
INDG218.