Risk Assessments 101: A Guide for Hot Work
Key considerations for safeguarding your workplace
Introduction
In this article, we will examine risk assessments in depth. As we covered in the previous instalment of this series, conducting risk assessments is a requirement under several pieces of health and safety legislation.
What are risk assessments?
A risk assessment is a systematic process where potential workplace hazards are identified and evaluated so appropriate control measures may be implemented to prevent and mitigate risks. Risk assessments are essential for reducing the risk of accidents and injuries. To understand risk assessments, it is necessary first to distinguish the difference between a ‘hazard’ and a ‘risk’:
a. A hazard is the potential for something to cause harm and
b. a risk is the likelihood and the severity of the harm.
Image description: The image above illustrates a general risk assessment for hot work. This illustration is NOT comprehensive and specifically addresses the hazard “Ignition of residues”. For a thorough, site-specific risk assessment, consult a competent professional to address all hazards and controls appropriately.
The five steps of a risk assessment
1. Identify the hazards
It’s essential to consider both:
a. Hazards in the environment: Hazards may already be present in the work environment, e.g. working in a contaminated area and
b. Hazards generated by work activities: Hazards may arise from the intended work activities, such as ignition sources generated by the material being worked on.
2. Assess who might be harmed and how
It’s important to consider who might be harmed, e.g. workers, visitors and members of the public. Risks may harm people’s health or their safety:
a. Health risks, e.g., exposure to welding fumes, leading to respiratory issues.
b. safety risks, e.g., flammable dust accumulating and catching fire due to sparks and heat generated by cutting activities.
3. Evaluate risks and implement controls
Once the hazards have been identified and assessed, the likelihood and severity (risk) must be evaluated. Based on the findings, suitable control measures should be implemented in unity with the hierarchy of controls and the principles of prevention set out in The MHSWR 1999.
4. Record the findings
The MHSWR 1999 requires employers with five or more employees to record their risk assessment findings; however, The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) recommends that risk assessments be documented regardless of the organisation's size or the level of risk involved.
NB: Under The Building Safety Act 2022, unlike other risk assessments, you are legally required to record fire risk assessments, regardless of organisation size.
5. Review your findings
Risk assessments should not be treated as a ‘one-time event’. Risk assessments should be reviewed regularly, but the intervals at which they are reviewed are at the employer or self-employed person's discretion. As a rule, risk assessments must be reviewed and updated when the work process or environment changes or following an adverse event such as an accident, dangerous occurrence or a near miss. Changes in the work process or environment can create new risks and impact the validity and effectiveness of the pre-existing control measures. The measures implemented must remain both relevant and suitable to control the risks.
Who should conduct a risk assessment?
A competent person should conduct a risk assessment, meaning they have the necessary knowledge, skills, and experience. However, involving employees in the risk assessment process can be beneficial, as it helps them understand the risks involved and highlights the importance of adhering to the control measures selected.
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Essential considerations
Hot works often necessitate the use of hazardous substances (e.g., acetylene for welding or propane for soldering). Alternatively, the hot work activity itself may generate hazardous substances (e.g., fumes generated by welding or metal oxides from cutting or grinding). The Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 and the Dangerous Substances and Explosive Atmospheres Regulations 2002 require additional considerations if the use of hazardous substances or the potential creation of hazardous substances are identified.
Schedule 1 of The Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 requires the following to be considered in risk assessments:
Hazardous properties of substances.
Information from manufacturers or suppliers (e.g., safety data sheets).
Circumstances regarding the work (e.g., quantity of the substances used, potential adverse reactions where multiple substances are involved or present, arrangements for handling, storage, transport and waste disposal).
High-risk activities (e.g., maintenance work).
Effectiveness of current and planned control measures.
Likelihood of explosive atmospheres and areas where they may occur.
The presence of ignition sources in the area and the potential for ignition sources to be generated by activities.
Scale of potential effects from an adverse event.
Additional safety information required to complete the assessment (e.g., workplace exposure limits for the substance(s)).
The Dangerous Substances and Explosives Atmospheres Regulations 2002 (DSEAR) sets out a risk hierarchy which must be followed in order of priority:
Image description: The image above illustrates the risk hierarchy set out in DSEAR 2002.
Recap
Risk assessments are a 5-step process designed to identify and evaluate workplace hazards.
Risk assessments are a legal requirement for both the employed and self-employed.
Recording risk assessments is mandatory for companies with five or more employees; however, recording fire risk assessments is mandatory regardless of organisation size.
A competent person must conduct risk assessments.
Activities that use or generate hazardous substances require additional considerations (Schedule 1 of The Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 and the DSEAR 2002 risk hierarchy).
Cited Resources
The Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2005/1541/contents
L128 DSEAR 2002: https://www.hse.gov.uk/pubns/priced/l138.pdf