When dealing with some of the thousands of clients covered by Peninsula Business Services (Ireland) across the country we are often asked which are the ‘most important’ hazards they should deal with as a priority. Whilst every workplace is unique and the hazards which have the greatest potential for adverse effects should be prioritised, there are a number which occur in every workplace and can be easily identified. One example is the risk of Slips, Trips and Falls, which it could be argued is an effect rather than a hazard, but statistically it is one of the highest causes of injuries and claims in the workplace. In 2013 there were over 1,700 public liability awards according to the Injuries Board data. The average award for a public liability claim was €25,120. The average award for men was slightly higher than for women but women are almost twice as likely as men to sustain an injury in a public place, accounting for over 7in 10 awards. Commenting, Patricia Byron, Chief Executive of the Injuries Board said “We can see again from the findings that slips, trips and falls remain the main cause of public liability accidents. I encourage all those with responsibility for public areas to invest in basic prevention. On the basis of our claims analysis, it is clear that by simply maintaining public pathways/floor surfaces and by carefully securing loose goods, furniture etc., many of these claims could be avoided or minimized. Prevention must become the key.” For further information on PL accidents, please view the Injuries Board website: www.injuriesboard.ie. Good housekeeping, regular inspection and checking, combined with an informed, engaged safety management structure will reduce the risks considerably. Suitable and Sufficient Risk Assessments will help you achieve this. An efficient Health & Safety Management System should not interfere with the effective running of the business; it should complement it and make life easier for all. There are 3 basic steps to Risk Assessment:
- Identify the hazards (i.e. anything that has the potential to cause harm).Don’t over complicate the process, just look at the tasks your workers have to carry out and identify those things involved which could cause harm, or the processes which could go wrong and result in an injury or ill health.
- Identify the level of risk for each hazard (i.e. the chance/likelihood of harm occurring, coupled with how severe the harm or ill health could be). Basically judge the probability that a negative outcome from the event, task or substance will occur. Decide who could be harmed and how badly they will be affected. Remember to give extra consideration to young persons, the elderly, pregnant employees, shift workers etc. as they are usually at a higher level of risk
- Identify what controls or improvements will need to be put in place to avoid or reduce the risk. Your control measures are the most significant part of the risk assessment, as they set out the steps that must be followed to protect people. As you understand the nature of your business, the process or task in hand you are best placed to identify what the most effective controls will be.
You are legally compelled to have written risk assessments for your business operations and failure to do so may lead to a prosecution by the Health & Safety Authority or lead to issues with your insurance company and their likelihood to support a claim on your employer’s liability or public liability insurance. At Peninsula Business Services (Ireland) Ltd we advocate a Health and Safety Made Simple philosophy and believe in a practical and common sense approach to health and safety – contact us on 01 855 4861 for more information. Brendan Hanratty is a Chartered Health & Safety Practitioner working with Peninsula Business Services (Ireland) Ltd; who are Ireland’s leading provider of employment law and health & safety services. Established in Ireland since 1997, we have thousands of businesses who have already integrated Peninsula to work as part of their HR and Health & Safety departments. With offices in Dublin, Belfast, Sydney and Manchester, Peninsula employs over 1000 people across Ireland, Australia and the UK. - See more at: https://www.peninsulagrouplimited.com/ie/
