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The Risk Assessments Module

Carrying out risk assessments involves evaluating potential hazards and risks in the workplace. Reporting on risk assessments helps prevent accidents by documenting the details about the risk assessment, identifying hazards, and putting control measures in place. The system allows administrators to document risk assessments. 

Hazards and Control Measures

Hazards and control measures can be configured on the system which are a requirement to be selected when adding a risk assessment.

A hazard is anything that has the potential to cause harm. 

Many hazards can exist in the workplace, such as:

• Physical – affects the body’s physical well-being
• Fire – can cause burns, death and property loss
• Biological – any substance that could cause harm to workers
• Environmental – weather events that could cause harm

Control measures are put in place to reduce the risk or eliminate the risk. 

The hierarchy of control measures are arranged from most to least effective:

1. Eliminate – removing the hazard completely at the source
2. Substitute – changing a material or process to reduce the hazard
3. Engineering Controls – putting barriers in place to prevent hazards from coming into direct contact with employees
4. Administrative Controls – changing procedures to reduce the risk
5. Personal Protective Equipment – wearing protective clothing and equipment when carrying out work to reduce the risk

When adding a hazard to the system, the hazard severity and likelihood are selected. The numbers that are entered determine the risk rating of the hazard. The higher the risk rating, the more likely it is for an accident to occur. 

When adding a control measure to the system, the hazard severity and likelihood reduction numbers are selected. The numbers that are entered determine how much the hazard is reduced. 

Status and Approval

Administrators can approve and reject Risk Assessments. This is done to ensure Risk Assessments are fully and accurately documented and control measures have been implemented.

The risk assessment statuses that show are:

• Approved
• Awaiting Approval
• Rejected

Risk Assessment Revision

Existing Risk assessments can be revised to ensure the risk assessment is up to date and accurate. The original risk assessment remains on the system, and the revised version is accessible by clicking on the original risk assessment. This functionality is found in the ‘actions’ column of the Risk Assessments module.                    

Corrective Actions

Corrective actions are implemented to identify the root cause of risks, and can help prevent risks from recurring. 

Type of Corrective Actions (Immediate/Long Term)

There are two types of corrective actions that can be implemented:

Immediate - steps taken to quickly resolve the issue

Long Term - steps taken to improve overall processes to prevent recurrence 

Adding corrective actions includes:

• Documenting the issue - include the problem description and any relevant details
• Identifying the root cause - what caused the risk
• Implementing action(s) that is required to solve the issue

When implementing action(s) to a corrective action, it can be helpful to implement SMART actions:

• Specific - enter exactly what needs to be done to resolve the issue
• Measurable - include what is needed to track progress of actions being taken
• Achievable - set a realistic but effective goal 
• Relevant - make sure the actions align with the objectives
• Time - Bound - set a time frame to ensure the actions are completed quickly

Risk Assessment Types

When adding a risk assessment type, the system provides the option to select ‘Upload Required’ which means the risk assessments are performed through document uploads. 

The system also has the option to select roles, which means the selected roles are only able to see the risk assessment that is created by the type.

Risk Assessment Templates

The system provides the option to select from an existing risk assessment template. When a template is selected, information from the selected template automatically appears, and can be changed if necessary. Risk Assessment Templates can be created when adding a new risk assessment by ticking the ‘Save as Template’ box.