RISK ASSESSMENT - 13.02.2006

Out of sight, out of mind

Changing environments

Multi-site remote working can and does have a number of problems associated with it. Unlike a single location business it’s almost impossible to identify all hazards and associated risks in a formal written risk assessment, but you’ll still need to make sure you’re not putting your employees in danger. So where do you start?

Crystal ball gazing

The risks can be varied and sometimes unpredictable as they can be specific to the location, situation and type of work to be performed. The emergency services face unpredictable situations on a daily basis and use a technique called Dynamic Risk Assessment (DRA). There are number of steps to a DRA, but as most of the risks should stay the same most can be identified in a predictive risk assessment. This requires a certain amount of crystal ball gazing but it should be possible to arrive at a document that identifies the most likely hazards that your employees will encounter at any location. There are a few obvious and fairly universal things to look at here - safe access and egress, use of equipment, working with electrical equipment, availability of first aid, what to do in an emergency etc.

Second stage

The good news is that this only has to be completed when the predictive stage doesn’t identify all of the risks suitably. The only person who will be able to make that judgement is your staff member and in normal circumstances it should be very rare that they’ll have to do it. Why bother? This is an extra step to make sure they’re covered. Insufficient risk assessments are often the basis of a Health & Safety Executive prosecution, so taking the small amount of time to add to your predictive assessment is worth it. We’re not saying that a new assessment should be created from scratch; it’s more of a filling in the blanks exercise.

Tip. There will also be times when employees need advice, often by telephone, on the risks they may be facing. Make sure they understand what to do and who to contact. It might be a good idea to make up cards with important contact numbers on.

Responsibilities

You’re not going to be able to do this for your remote staff - it’s something they will have to do for themselves. Your struggle will be in convincing them to spend the time on it and carry out the process in a meaningful way.

Tip 1. Be careful about making rules that are unnecessary or too binding. By the nature of a DRA you’ll need to allow a degree of flexibility and rely on the person completing it. Otherwise your approach could simply de-value the exercise and encourage complacency, or even the services of a photocopier and Tipp-Ex, simply to ensure the paperwork is complete, rather than a proper risk assessment.

Tip 2. Don’t forget the client’s/host’s responsibility for your staff. If they’re entering commercial property, the owner/landlord must make them aware of any significant risks. If they don’t, then you should brief your staff to make sure they ask and are happy about all arrangements before proceeding.

For a free example multi-site predictive risk assessment visit http://healthandsafety.indicator.co.uk(HS 04.10.06)