How Do I Write A Risk Assessment?

1. WHAT ARE WHERE ARE THE HAZARDS?

Our assessment of these risks starts with looking for hazards, which can require some understanding of what we do and where we do it. Consider the activities you have arranged for your event, what could reasonably be expected to cause harm or damage? Ask the other members of your organising group. Also consider the setting up and clearing down stages of your event and how your event may affect others outside your event site. Some hazards are obvious to everyone, for example the trailing cables, however some are only appreciated with some level of specialist knowledge. Below is a list of some common groups of hazards; Keep in mind that this is not an exhaustive list and there is no ‘one-size-fits-all’ scenario, although there may be similar risks across other parts of the University, for which collaboration is an excellent idea.

Indoor	Organisational	Hills and Mountains	Water
Electrical hazards	Poor planning / preparation	Difficult communication	Cold water
Inadequate lighting	Poor delivery / organisation	River crossings	Collisions with rocks
Temperature (too hot / cold?)	Lack of information, training, instruction	Remote locations	Striking / trapping by submerged obstacles
Slips, trips and falls	Unsafe behaviours	Falling debris	Collisions with water users
Insufficient or unsuitable space	Lack of first aid equipment or experience	Slips & trips on grass, mud, rock	Restricted access to / from water
Untidiness (trip / fire hazard)	Medical conditions of participants	Difficulties terrain type, angle of ascent/descent	Falls from weirs, rapids, boats, piers
Stairs – dark / steep / no handrail	Differing skills levels	Separation of group members	Stranded by tides
Lack of fire escapes / extinguishers / procedures	Low level of fitness / strength	Weather (hot /cold), exposure to sun / rain etc.	Swept away by currents, Being out of depth
Poor ventilation	Aggression from participant	Lack of shelter	Difficult communications
	Aggression from public	Getting lost
		Falls from height

Sporting Activity	Guest Speakers	Specialist Equipment	Other
Uneven surfaces	Triggering Content	Inadequate PPE	Cash Handling
Objects on pitch	Discriminatory Content	Heat from equipment	Transport to and from
Playing surface too hard / soft	Reputational risk to Students Union, University	Risk of trapping body / clothing in moving equipment	Chemicals / Hazardous substances
Sliding on turf, tarmac etc.	Safety risks to speaker	Noise from equipment	Food poisoning / allergies
Collisions with objects, equipment or people	Relationships risk for the student group, SU	Damaging equipment - financial impact
Mishandling of sports equipment		Heavy equipment / manual handling
		Electrical hazards from specific equipment

2. WHO OR WHAT COULD BE HARMED, AND HOW?

Decide who or what (e.g. animals, buildings, etc) might be harmed and how. For each hazard you need to be clear about who/what might be adversely affected; it will help you identify the best way of managing the risk. That doesn’t mean listing everyone or everything by name, but rather identifying groups of people/things (e.g. Visitors to the event, participants, vulnerable groups and individuals, public i.e. not visiting the event) exhibits, equipment, etc.

In each case, identify how they might be harmed, i.e. what type of injury or ill health might occur. For example, ‘exec may suffer back injury from repeated lifting of boxes; illness from contact with infectious people; animals or children may be startled by loud noises or fireworks’.

3. EVALUATE THE RISK, DECIDE ON PRECAUTIONS

Having identified the hazards, you then have to decide what to do about them. The law requires you to do everything ‘reasonably practicable’ to reduce the risk of harm. Compare what you are doing with good practice; i.e. what do other people do, how can you reduce risk of harm?

Think also about what controls you have in place and how the event is organised. Consider:

Can I get rid of the hazard altogether? If not, how can I control the risks so that harm, infection or damage is unlikely?

When controlling risks, apply the principles below, if possible in the following order:

Try a less risky option (e.g. switch to using a less hazardous chemical, improve ventilation);
Prevent access to the hazard (e.g. by guarding, social distancing, one way systems);
Organise work to reduce exposure to the hazard (e.g. barriers between pedestrians and traffic);
Issue personal protective equipment (e.g. clothing, footwear, goggles etc.); and provide welfare facilities (e.g. first aid and hand sanitising facilities for removal of contamination);
Is training required?

4. WRITE IT DOWN!

When writing down your results, keep it simple. We do not expect a risk assessment to be perfect, but it must be suitable and sufficient.

At the SU we have a number of templates you can use to get you started on your risk assessment journey! We have pre-populated a variety of form with a number of hazards - some of those are missing vital information which is unique to your event, so you will need to read through each one and make changes where necessary or add in more details. If you have any other hazards to add in then please add these to the bottom of the forms in the spaces provided.

Evaluating Risks

The risk assessment requires you to evaluate the various risks you have identified. It is a two-stage process: what is the likelyhood that each particular hazard may occur and, if it does so, how serious might be the consequences? You need to make a sensible assessment for both. Each of our risk assessments has a matrix at the end of the document to help you in this task.

Risks will have a rating before controls are put in place (uncontrolled risk level), and a further rating (controlled risk level) once controls are put in place. If any of your risks come out at the High Risk or Extreme Risk rating please contact a member of the ASK team to discuss further as your activity / event could be at risk of being cancelled unless the risks can be mitigated / reduced.

5. REVIEW AND UPDATE BEFORE YOUR EVENT

Set a date to review your plans and update the assessment as necessary. This is especially important if any changes are made to the programme of events after the Risk Assessment has been completed, as the changes may, in a worst case scenario, invalidate it.

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