CIPFA - Performance in Public Services: Property

Heath & Safety Risk Assessments

Many of the most successful organisations in the UK are able to demonstrate good Health and Safety performance. Effective Health and Safety management will minimise accidental losses, which can be devastating, as well as ensuring compliance with the law. The Health and Safety performance of an organisation depends on the management control. It must be efficiently managed if performance is to be satisfactory.

Improvements to Health and Safety performance can be by various means, for example

• moving from a reactive to a proactive approach to Health and Safety issues
• identifying what needs to be controlled and setting standards
• adopting the same disciplines of management control and responsibilities as are applied to financial management.

Therefore, successful Health and Safety management requires commitment to a policy and programme of continuous improvement by those in charge, together with regular audits of that programme.

Regulation 5 of the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999 requires employers to make, and put into action, arrangements appropriate for the effective planning, organisation, control, monitoring and review of safety measures. The Audit has been commissioned and conducted in order to gather information and fulfil the requirement for the review stipulated in Regulation 5.

Our audit will comprise of an inspection of all relevant documentation and a visual inspection of the building and surrounding area, also to examine the activities carried out by all staff, visitors and contractors. The risk grading of all sections will be determined as a result of the audit.

The audit is to be carried out based on the following principles

• Identify potential hazards within the systems of work adopted in the
• offices
• Identify any structural features that are hazardous
• Identify those who may be at risk
• Assess the risks
• Check that all control measures are in place to reduce the likelihood
• accidents and incidents
• Recommend changes to structures, procedures, equipment, to minimise the risks.

Key areas to be identified with recommendations for improvements, which when complete will provide a record of present risks, together with an indication of the scope and cost of the changes and/or improvements which need to be provided to minimise the risks present.