In a risk assessment the dangers of an activity are measured against the likelihood of accidents taking place. People carry out risk assessments hundreds of times each day without even knowing it. For example, every time we cross the road we do a risk assessment without even thinking about it.
In the construction industry, risk assessments are done by experienced people who are able to identify the risks of each task. They are the able to put measures in place to control the risks they have identified. At some point in your career you will have to carry out a risk assessment. You will be given proper training in how to do this but, until then, it is important that you understand how risk assessments work. Below is an example of an everyday situation (crossing the road) and how a risk assessment would be carried out for this.
Step 1
Identify the hazards (the dangers) - in this situation the hazards are vehicles travelling at speeds.
Step 2
Identify who will be at risk - the person crossing the road will be at risk, as will any drivers on the road who might have to swerve to avoid that person.
Step 3
Calculate the risk from the hazard against the likelihood of an accident taking place - the risk from the hazard is quite high because, if an accident were to happen, the injury could be very serious. However, the likelihood of an accident happening is low because the chances of the person being hit while crossing are very low.
Step 4
Introduce measure to reduce the risk - in this case, crossing the road at traffic lights or pedestrian crossings reduce the Rick.
Step 5
Monitor the risk - changes might need to be made to the risk assessment if there are any changes to the risks involved. I our examples, changes might be traffic lights being out of order of an increase in the speed limit on the road.