When Should a Risk Assessment be Reviewed?

Risk assessments help identify all kinds of safety issues found in workplaces. It’s important for employers to introduce them, as well as review them.

With the right maintenance in place, your business will help encourage workplace safety – keeping everyone on your premises safe. However, neglecting risk assessments leads to serious financial and even criminal consequences.

Let’s take a look at when a risk assessment is, when they should be reviewed, and who employers must report their findings to.

What is a risk assessment?

A risk assessment is the process of identifying, analysing, and controlling hazards in the workplace.

Depending on the issue, a risk assessment helps employers maintain safe working conditions – protecting their staff, as well as anyone found on your premises (like customers, clients, or even the public).

Some businesses only require basic risk assessments, like an office workplace. Whilst others require intricate ones, like construction sites. It all depends on what hazards your workplace presents and what’s needed to minimise (or even eliminate) them.

When do employers need to review risk assessments?

Most employers think risk assessments only require yearly reviews and nothing more. But this is just a small part of the process. There are a number of situations where risk assessment reviews must be actioned. Let’s take a look a few examples:

After serious accidents

This is considered as the most important reason for reviewing risk assessments. Employers must conduct urgent risk assessments immediately after an accident, injury, or near-miss.

They usually happen when the right measures or safe practices aren’t being followed. That’s where risk assessment reviews come in. It helps identify any weak-points in your work practices – minimising the chances of future injuries occurring in your workplace environment.

Significant changes to work practices

Businesses are always looking to develop ways of working more efficiently. This might include hiring more staff or launching new tech into the workplace. Whenever you need to make a significant change to your work conditions, a new risk assessment is needed.

For example, when expanding your business premise, you must highlight all safety risks that could affect employees, customers, and relevant people. This also covers having appropriate safety measures in place, like fire systems and evacuation plans in place.  

Changes to staff profiles

It’s normal to deal with employee circumstances changing from time to time. This includes a range of situations, like hiring more people or dealing with individual health conditions.

For example, if an employee becomes pregnant, their employer must conduct specific risk assessments to ensure they’re working in safe conditions – protecting their health, as well as the baby’s.

Regular reviews

Injuries and health issues aside, it’s good business practice for employers to review risk assessments on a regular basis.

This could be annually, quarterly or even weekly – it all depends on the severity of the risk related to your work practices. Through routine reviews, employers can minimise hazards in good time, as well as safeguard their staff’s welfare.

Download a free risk assessment template now

Here at Peninsula, we care about the safety of your business. So we have created a range of free risk assessment templates for you to use when required, such as:

• General free risk assessment template.
• Free construction risk assessment template.
• Free risk assessment in health and social care template.
• Free office risk assessment example.
• Free beauty salon risk assessment template.
• Free risk assessment template for schools.
• Free pregnancy risk assessment template.
• Free bar risk assessment template.
• Free working from home risk assessment template.
• Free lone working risk assessment template.
• Free COSHH risk assessment template.
• Free manual handling risk assessment template.

Get expert advice on risk assessments with Peninsula

No matter what your industry is, all employers have a legal duty to ensure their workplaces are safe to work in. Without the right maintenance, you would end up injuring your staff, customers, or anyone who visits your work premises.

Peninsula offers expert advice on risk assessments. We offer 24-hour H&S advice – ensuring your employees work in the safest and most secure manner. 

Want to find out more? Contact us on 0800 028 2420 and book a workplace risk assessment with one of our risk assessment consultants today.