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How to do a risk assessment Hazards have the potential to cause different types and severities of harm, ranging from minor discomfort to a serious injury or death. For example, heavy liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) cylinders can cause muscular strain when they are handled manually. However, if the cylinder is damaged causing gas to leak, which is then ignited, a fire could result in serious burns. If that leak occurs in a storeroom or similar enclosed space, it could result in an explosion that could destroy the building and kill or injure anyone nearby. Each of the outcomes involves a different type of harm with a range of severities, and each has a different likelihood of occurrence. The risk will increase as the severity and likelihood of harm increases. Work out how hazards may cause harm In most cases, incidents occur as a result of a chain of events and a failure of one or more links in that chain. If one or more of the events can be stopped or changed, the risk may be eliminated or reduced. One way of working out the chain of events is to determine the starting point where things begin to go wrong and then consider: ‘If this happens, what may happen next?’ This will provide a list of events that sooner or later cause harm. See the example in Appendix C. In thinking about how each hazard may cause harm, you should consider: the effectiveness of existing control measures and whether they control all types of harm how work is actually done, rather than relying on written manuals and procedures, and infrequent or abnormal situations, as well as how things are normally meant to occur. Consider how harm could be caused during maintenance and cleaning, as well as breakdowns of equipment and failures of health and safety controls. Work out how severe the harm could be To estimate the severity of harm that could result from each hazard you should consider the following questions: What type of harm could occur (for example muscular strain, injuries due to fatigue, psychological injury, burns, laceration)? How severe is the harm? Could the hazard cause death, serious injuries, illness or only minor injuries requiring first aid? What factors could influence the severity of harm that occurs? For example, the distance someone might fall or the concentration of a particular substance will determine the level of harm that is possible. The harm may occur immediately if something goes wrong (for example injury from a fall) or it may take time for it to become apparent (for example illness from long-term exposure to a substance or to excessive work demands). Do you need to use specific tools or processes to assess how severe the harm could be? This could include sending samples to a lab for testing or arranging noise exposure level testing. How many people are exposed to the hazard and how many could be harmed in and outside your workplace? For example, a mobile crane collapse on a busy construction site has the potential to kill or injure a large number of people. Could one failure lead to other failures? For example, could the failure of your electrical supply make any control measures that rely on electricity ineffective? Could a small event escalate to a much larger event with more serious consequences? For example, a minor fire can get out of control quickly in the presence of large amounts of combustible materials. Work out the likelihood of harm occurring The likelihood that someone will be harmed can be estimated by considering the following: How often is the task done? Does this make the harm more or less likely? How often are people near the hazard? How close do people get to it? Has it ever happened before, either in your workplace or somewhere else? How often? Table 2 contains further questions that can help you estimate likelihood. You can rate the likelihood as one of the following: Certain to occur—expected to occur in most circumstances Very likely—will probably occur in most circumstances Possible—might occur occasionally Unlikely—could happen at some time Rare—may happen only in exceptional circumstances. Table 2 Questions to help estimate likelihood of harm occurring