Risk Assessment & Method Statement

Insight by

Amanda Lambert

Published on

9 November 2022

Health and safety news

What is a Risk Assessment & Method Statement?

A Risk Assessment & Method Statement is used to describe in a logical sequence exactly how work is to be carried out using safe practices and without risks to health. It should include all the risks previously identified in the risk assessment and the measures needed to control those risks.

How do I complete a risk assessment?

To complete a risk assessment, you need to have the knowledge to identify the activities in your business, might cause harm to people and decide whether you are doing enough to prevent that harm from occurring. Once you have decided the harm that may be caused, you need to priorities these whilst identifying putting in place, appropriate and sensible control measures.

What should I include in my risk assessment?

The risk assessment you generate should include consideration for all the activities that are relevant to the work you are carrying out. You should take into account each step in your work sequence and assess what harm, how and which people can be affected. It should take into account any controls which are already in place and identify what, if any, further controls are required.

You should be able to show from your assessment that:

a thorough check was carried out
all people who might be affected by the works carried out have been considered
all significant risks have been assessed
the precautions are reasonable
the remaining risk is low

There are a number of free templates available and the HSE has some you can download and amend.

We also have templates available that are for specific industries and can be implemented into your business straight away. Click Here

What is a Risk Assessment

Insight by

Amanda Lambert

Published on

25 May 2022

Health and safety blog

What is a risk assessment

A risk assessment is to enable you to identify sensible control and measures for risks within your workplace.

Risk Assessments are not meant to create huge amounts of work for anyone in the company but should be there to ensure the safety of you and your workforce. You are likely to already have a process in place to identify risks and how they should be dealt with. A risk assessment is just a document to have all the information in one place.

How to assess the risks in your place of work:

Identify the hazards
Decide who might be harmed and how
Evaluate the risks and decide on precautions
Record your significant findings
Review your assessment and update if necessary

Many companies who are confident they understand the process and the risks involved can complete these themselves. You don’t have to be a H&S expert.

When thinking about your risk assessment, remember:

A hazard is something that could cause harm, for example electricity, chemicals, working from ladders, an open drawer etc
The risk is the probability, high or low, that somebody could be harmed by these and other hazards, together with an indication of how serious the harm could be

The process of identifying hazards and evaluating the risks can be delivered systematically using well-established templates and the knowledge of people with hands-on experience.

We have several risk assessments available to buy. The cost of one of our risk and method statements is less than half an hour of your writing time.

They have taken us more than a day to write each one; however, we sell many, making them very affordable.

The documents arrive in word format to allow you to adjust them to suit your site and circumstances.

Why not see our layout below to see if it is something you could work with.