Risk Assessment

Section 19 of the Safety Health and Welfare at Work Act 2005 requires every employer to identify hazards in the workplace, assess the risk from these hazards and have a written risk assessment in place which is available to all relevant persons within the working environment.

Conducting risk assessments and developing a specific safety statement meets the basic minimum legislative requirements for a company/organisation operating within the Republic of Ireland.

There are several types of risk assessments that may need to be undertaken within a working environment from general risk assessments to risk assessments regarding specific risks/hazards in the workplace.

• Prepare a complete specific Health & Safety Statement for your business
• Review your existing Health & Safety Statement as required

1 Financial reasons

There is considerable evidence, borne out by companies’ practical experiences, that effective safety and health management in the workplace contributes to business

success. Accidents and ill-health inflict significant costs, often hidden and underestimated.

2 Legal reasons

Carrying out a risk assessment, preparing a safety statement and implementing what you have written down are not only central to any safety and health management

system, they are required by law. Health and Safety Authority inspectors visiting workplaces will want to know how employers are managing safety and health. If they investigate an accident, they will scrutinise the risk assessment and safety statement, and the procedures and work practices in use. Make sure that these stand up to examination.

3 Moral and ethical reasons

The process of carrying out a risk assessment, preparing a safety statement and implementing what you have written down will help employers prevent injuries and illhealth at work. Employers are ethically bound to do all they can to ensure that your employees do not suffer illness, a serious accident or death.