Risk assessment is one of the most important processes in managing health and safety. We all do some form of risk assessment each day as we make decisions on how to look after ourselves and those around us. In the workplace, there are legal duties on how we conduct and record these risk assessments.
Fundamentally we need to assess whether the environment we work in or the activities we undertake could cause an injury, affect someone's health or lead to items being damaged. Risk assessments are used to help plan work, develop procedures, and train staff. By doing this correctly, it will reduce the number of accidents across the University.
Risk assessments are a legal requirement. Failure to comply will leave the University vulnerable to enforcement action by various agencies. This can have an impact on the University in its reputation, business and research activities.
A risk assessment template is provided below. Please download a copy to your computer before editing.
The policy outlines the legal context of risk assessment and describes the process on how to complete them.
