WHAT IS RISK

 What is the difference between a 'hazard' and a

'risk'?
 A Hazard is something that can cause harm, e.g.
electricity, chemicals, working up a ladder, noise, a
keyboard, a bully at work, stress, etc.
 A Risk is the chance, high or low, that any hazard will
actually cause somebody harm.
 For example, working alone away from your office can
be a hazard. The risk of personal danger may be high.
Electric cabling is a hazard. If it has snagged on a sharp
object, the exposed wiring places it in a 'high-risk'
category.
TYPES OF RISKS
LEVELS OF RISK & THE RISK
FORMULA
 5 - STEPS TO RISK ASSESSMENT (1)
 The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) advises employers to
follow five steps when carrying out a workplace
risk assessment:
Step 1: Identify hazards, i.e. anything that may cause harm.
 Employers have a duty to assess the health and safety risks faced
by their workers. Your employer must systematically check for
possible physical, mental, chemical and biological hazards.
 This is one common classification of hazards:
• Physical: e.g. lifting, awkward postures, slips and trips, noise,
dust, machinery, computer equipment, etc.
• Mental: e.g. excess workload, long hours, working with high-
need clients, bullying, etc. These are also called 'psychosocial'
hazards, affecting mental health and occurring within working
relationships.
• Chemical: e.g. asbestos, cleaning fluids, aerosols, etc.
• Biological: including tuberculosis, hepatitis and other infectious
diseases faced by healthcare workers, home care staff and other
healthcare professionals.
Step 2: Decide who may be harmed, and how.
 Identifying who is at risk starts with your organisation's own full- and
part-time employees. Employers must also assess risks faced by agency
and contract staff, visitors, clients and other members of the public on
their premises.
 Employers must review work routines in all the different locations and
situations where their staff are employed. For example:
• Home care supervisors must take due account of their client's personal
safety in the home, and ensure safe working and lifting arrangements for
their own home care staff.
• In a supermarket, hazards are found in the repetitive tasks at the checkout,
in lifting loads, and in slips and trips from spillages and obstacles in the
shop and storerooms. Staff face the risk of violence from customers and
intruders, especially in the evenings.
• In call centres, workstation equipment (i.e. desk, screen, keyboard and
chair) must be adjusted to suit each employee.
 Employers have special duties towards the health and safety of young
workers, disabled employees, night-workers, shift-workers, and pregnant
or breastfeeding women
 5 - STEPS TO RISK ASSESSMENT (2)
 Step 5: Review the risk assessment.
Step 3: Assess the risks and take action
 A risk assessment must be kept under review in
 This means employers must consider how likely it is that each
order to:
hazard could cause harm. This will determine whether or not your
employer should reduce the level of risk. Even after all • ensure that agreed safe working practices continue
precautions have been taken, some risk usually remains. to be applied (e.g. that management's safety
Employers must decide for each remaining hazard whether the risk instructions are respected by supervisors and line
remains high, medium or low. managers); and
Step 4: Make a record of the findings. Employers with five or more • take account of any new working practices, new
staff are required to record in writing the main findings of the risk machinery or more demanding work targets.
assessment. This record should include details of any hazards noted in
the risk assessment, and action taken to reduce or eliminate risk.
 This record provides proof that the assessment was carried out,
and is used as the basis for a later review of working practices.
The risk assessment is a working document. You should be able to
read it. It should not be locked away in a cupboard.
RISK MANAGEMENT & CORE ELEMENTS
OF SAFETY MANAGEMENT
TECHNIQUES OF RISK
MANAGEMENT
RISK IDENTIFICATION TOOLS & RISK PLANNING
PROCESS
 MANAGE RISKS IN THE WORKPLACE

A ‘person conducting a business or undertaking’ (PCBU),

who is usually the employer, has the primary duty of care
under the Work Health and Safety Act 2011 (WHS Act) to
ensure the health and safety of workers and others at the
workplace, so far as is reasonably practicable.

Definition of PCBU
 The term ‘person conducting a business or undertaking’ (PCBU)
captures all types of working arrangements or structures. A
PCBU can be a company, an unincorporated body or association,
a sole trader or self-employed person. Persons who are in a
partnership that is conducting a business or undertaking will
individually and collectively be a PCBU.
 The term PCBU relates to an organisation or person who is more
commonly known as ‘the employer’. A person who is engaged
solely as a worker or an officer in a business or undertaking is
not a PCBU.
 In some cases, there will be multiple PCBUs involved in work at
the same workplace who will share duties under work health and
safety laws in relation to the same matter. For example, a
principal contractor and sub-contractors at a construction site
SAFETY GOVERNANCE AND PREVENTION
RESPONSE AND RECOVERY
Recovery
 When a worker is ill or injured, the
employer has responsibilities
under both the
Safety Rehabilitation and Compens
ation Act 1988
and WHS Act.
 These responsibilities are usually
addressed by a
rehabilitation management system
that manages workplace injury or
illness.
• Response
• If a safety incident takes place, the
organisation must take steps to remove the
hazard that caused the incident. It should
also implement changes to stop the incident
from happening again.
• Your organisation’s response documentation
must include information on:
 incident investigation
 incident notification requirements
 emergency preparedness and response
 first aid policies and procedures.