When do you need to Update your Risk Assessment?

Earlier on in this series we spoke about the importance of completing risk assessments and method statements. The last step to the process was review and update as necessary: But just when is that? and what would cause you to take that step, you would be surprised to know the answer isn’t “every year!”

If you are not reviewing your RAMS regularly, it wont be long before someone sends them back to you asking for a current or updated copy. Yes, yearly may satisfy the CHAS assessor but in reality it is the outside margins of the scale time-wise and points to not having competent health and safety advice. There are other factors that may propmt you to review and reissue the documents, namely;

Has Legislation Changed?

– Typically the cycle for H+S Law is not static and roughly every 6 months a review of legislation can happen. If your documents reference a specific piece of regulation it can slide outof date and this will be picked up by anyone reviewing them or when you submit to a client or SSIP.

Has the task changed?

– (1) The People, (2) Materials, (3) Equipment and (4) Environment are not static either. You might think its the same but in reality it is not. That set of 4 constantly shifting variables makes all the difference and should trigger a review if you modify them such as sending different teams to complete the job, working inside / outside, using other chemicals or tools. It is never as simple as “one and done”.

Improvements / Problems?

– Have the teams reported back that the task simply couldnt be completed in the way it was assessed / written? Have they found a better way?. This is one of the proncipal reasons we see “scope creep” in RAMS, when challenged we find the team completing the work using a differnt piece of equipment or material just because there is a gap between whats written and whats achievable.

Accidents / Near-Misses?

– After any such incident the first port of call should always be the risk assessment and method statement. Was it suitable and sufficient?, was planning for safety uppermost in the mind of the author?, did the task as assessed contibute to either the likelihood or severity of the near-miss or even injury? A robust safety management system always has a company near miss / accident investigation process. These can include tools such as “5 Why” and “6M” to truly understand the cause / effect relationship and identify the root cause. You really dont want to come out the other side of one of these processes and find your Risk Assessment and Method Statement lacking.

Here at Ethos Safety, we are subject matter experts in risk. Identifying hazards, assessing risk and implementing control measures are what makes us tick.

Drop your details in the contact form, or pick up the phone if we can help you review, update and really make your RAMS the most up to date, safe product your business deserves.