The Risk Assessment Process in the Implementation of a Risk Management Plan - Term Paper Example

Name : xxxxxxxxxxx Institution : xxxxxxxxxxx Title : Risk Management Tutor : xxxxxxxxxxx Course : xxxxxxxxxxx @2010 Risk Management Introduction Risk management is an approach used to minimize exposure to risk. A risk management system includes procedures, processes, and policies that work together to identify, analyze, assess, control and minimize or eliminate risk (Mark, 2007). Risk management can lead to improvements in organizations and institutions by providing the management with an insight into risks and their impacts. After a risk has been identified, it is assessed in order to establish the probability of occurrence or its potential severity of loss. The risk assessment process is critical in implementation of a risk management plan. Sensible risk management makes sure that ensures that every person is protected and provides an overall benefit to the society through balancing risks and benefits and focuses on reducing actual risks both those with severe consequences and those which occurs frequently. Fire safety and risk is a significant issue which management must be deeply addressed to reduce the risk of death or injury to people. This is because fire has the potential to injure or kill many people within short period of time. Risk assessment Risk assessment is an important step in risk management process. It is the determination of qualitative or quantitative rate of a risk in relation to a tangible situation and a recognized hazard or threat. Risk assessment helps in considering what might harm people, properties, or environment so that decisions can be made or which actions to take in order to ensure that no person is hurt and no property is damaged. Risk assessments must be sufficient and suitable and not necessarily perfect. They are supposed to be undertaken in advance so that there is enough time to reflect on which action to take to reduce the risks. Risk assessments are vital tools in safety and health management and also in environmental management (Landoll, 2006). The results obtained in risk assessments may be used in identification of areas where safety might be improved. Risk assessment can be used in determination of more intangible types of risk, including social and economic risk, and it can form a scenario planning procedure. A risk assessment is significant step in shielding people within a particular organization and also helps an organization to comply with the law. It helps one to focus more on risks particularly those that have the potential to cause harm. Simple, effective, and cheap measures should be taken to make sure people and properties within the organization are protected. The law does not expect an organization to eliminate every risk, but it is required to protect individuals using the best possible means (Pritchard, 2002).Accidents and ill health may ruin lives and affect business if people are injured, machines are damaged, and insurance costs are increased. An Organization is supposed to assess the risks in the workplace so that a plan risk control plan can be put in place. Steps of risk assessment The first step in risk assessment is identification of the hazard. A hazard is a thing that can cause harm while the risk is the chance, low or high that a person might be harmed by these hazards along with an indication of how serious the harm might be. In order to identify a hazard, one must look out on how people can be harmed. One can work around the workplace and look for at things that can be reasonably anticipated to cause harm. An organization must concentrate on considerable hazards which can affect many people and result to severe harm rather than minor ones. The employer may ask their workers or representatives what hazards they may have noticed in the workplace and their opinion on which measures should be taken. One can refer to accident and ill health records which may help in identification of less hazards and long term hazards to health such as exposure to risky substances. Step 2: Decide who might be harmed and how One must look for who might be harmed by each hazard and this will help in identification of the beat means of managing the risk. This means identifying clusters of people such as those who are within the organization or the passersby. One must clearly identify on how these people may be harmed what type damage or ill health may occur. Some people have precise requirements. For instance, new workers, expectant mothers, and individuals with disabilities may be at particular risks. Additional thought is needed for various hazards. Identify if the hazards can hurt members of the public or how they affect the staff and people within the organization. Step 3: Evaluating the risks and deciding on precautions Having identified the risks, decisions should be made on what can be done. The employer must consider the likelihood that every hazard can cause harm. This will help in determining whether much more should be done in order to reduce the risk. Even if all precautions have been undertaken, some risks generally remains. What people within the organization have to decide for every considerable hazard is if the remaining hazard is low, medium, or high. The law needs an organization to do to all things reasonably practicable so as to protect people from harm. Therefore one must compare the protective measures with the good practices required by the law. The main aim of the employer is to reduce the risks by additional measures to the existing precautions. If anything has to be done, the employer must come up with an action list and give priority to the remaining risks which have a high level of affecting many people. Considerations should be made whether the hazards can be eradicated altogether of if they cannot be eliminated how the risks can be controlled so that damage is unlikely to occur. In order to control risks, one need to try a less risky option, access to the hazard, organizing work properly so as to reduce contact with the hazard, give protective equipments to the people and offer welfare facilities as first aid. Step 4: Recording of findings and implementing them Putting the findings of risk assessment into practice helps one helps protect people and properties within the organization. The results of risk assessment can be written down and shared with the staff or kept for future reference. It is not mandatory for a risk assessment to be perfect, but it is supposed to be sufficient and suitable. One must show that a proper and suitable check was made and established which people are likely to be affected by the hazard, the organization has dealt with every considerable hazard, the precautions are rational, and the remaining risk is low. The written record should be retained for future use or reference. It can help the organizations to display what precautions it has taken or if it becomes involved an action for civil liability. In order to simplify things, an organization may refer to other documents like manuals, health and safety procedures, and health and safety fire procedures. An excellent plan of action usually involves a combination of diverse things like a few easy and cheap improvements that may be done swiftly, possibly a temporary solution until a more reliable control can be put in place. It also includes long term remedies to risks that are highly likely to cause ill health and accidents or risks with worst potentials consequences. There may be arrangements for training people on the major risks that still remain and how they can be controlled. Regular checks can be made to ensure that control measures are still in place and the responsibilities of people in reducing the risks. Risks that have high likelihood of occurring and affect or harm many people should be prioritized and tackled first. Step 5: Reviewing of the risk assessment and updating Workplaces do not remain the same. With time, new substances, procedures and equipments are brought in that can lead to fresh hazards. If there are any considerable changes, the risk assessment must be revised to take into consideration the new hazards. Amendments on assessments should not be done for every minor changes, or for every new job but if a new task introduces considerable new changes, they should be considered and do anything that is required to reduce the risk. It is good to review the risk assessments periodically to ensure that precautions are still in place and are working effectively. Risk Assessment Sheet Workplace location: Name of person conducting assessment: Date: Spot the Hazard Assess the Risk Fix the Problem Evaluate Results Identify the work task or activity? What are the hazards associated with each activity? Is the risk associated with the hazard low, moderate, significant or high? If the risk is deemed unacceptable for the task, what will be done to reduce or remove the risk? By whom? By when? Go through the first 3 steps again to ensure risk levels are now at an acceptable level Revised risk level Use of cookers Can cause or intensify fire significant Ensure that the cookers tightly corked to avoid gas spillage Students Staff public After the risk been identified Use of halogen lamps Can cause fire high Ban use of halogen lamps As a new control measure Storage of flammable liquids in residential houses Can ignite or intensify fire or spill on floor and result to fall High Flammable liquids should not be stored in residential houses Students Staff, public After identification of the hazard Smoking Can cause fire, may cause health problems to the inhalerand other people high Ban smoking within enclosed areas in a residential house Students staff, public After identification Use of naked electrical Can cause fire or electric shock moderate Ensure that all wires are insulated Students, staff As a new precaution Hanging clothes or placing papers near sources of fire Can catch and spread fire low Ensure that clothes are placed away from sources of fire Students, staff As a new control measure Fire risk assessment A fire risk assessment helps in identification of all fire risks and hazards in premises and which measures can be used to reduced fires (Furness, A., 2007). For fire to occur there should be a source of ignition, oxygen, or fuel. All oxygen, ignition source and oxygen are in close proximity fire risk is at increase. Fire hazards include anything that can ignite fire, anything that may burn in fire and oxygen sources which might increase the intensity of a fire. Potential sources of ignition or things that may start fire include naked flames such as matches, cookers, gas welding, oil or gas heaters, pilot lights and halogen lamps. Hot work such as flame cutting, grinding and welding and sparks and arson also acts as a source of ignition. Potential fuel sources or things that may burn in a fire include anything that burns such as textiles, paper, wood, rubber, plastics, furniture, acetylene and liquids such as paints, adhesives, varnish and solvents like white spirit, petrol, paraffin and methylated spirits are things that may intensify a fire. A fire risk assessment must list the latent sources of fuels and ignition at are present within the premises. After fire hazards have been identified, identification of at high risk of fire. The most vulnerable people are people who are in are close with or to the fire hazards such as students within an accommodation premises. Evaluation is then made and where possible the identified fire hazards are removed. Scattered papers within the premises can be removing; high flammable substances may be replaced with less flammable materials (Hughes, 2007). Anything that can ignite or start fire should be kept away from flammable substances and create a secure smoking policy for smokers. This can be achieved through designing an area within or near the premises since smoking in an enclosed place is unacceptable and unsafe. After evaluation the findings are recorded. The record must indicate if above control measures are suitable and adequate and if not what additional actions are needed to reduce fire risk and to which level they are acceptable. The identified fire control measures must be monitored to make sure that they remain effective by maintaining and testing them regularly. Reviewing and revising of a fire risk assessment is important since it is a constant procedure and must be audited and monitored. The existing and new fire control measures must be maintained to ensure they are working effectively. If there are introduction of changes within the premises, the original fire risk assessment may fail to address new fire hazards arising from these new changes. Therefore it is necessary to make a review and revise the fire assessment regularly. Fire safety Fire is one of the main common disasters. Educating students and the public on the importance of preventing and responding to fire is an essential step in fire risk management. Every member of a learning institution and public should be familiar with their residential houses or offices and with suitable steps which can help in preventing or responding to a fire crisis (Hughes, 2007). People must be aware of which materials are ignites, spreads or intensifies fire and how to handle them within their premises. For instance, students must be cautious when cooking within their rooms since cooking related accidents are the main cause of fires within learning institutions. Fire safety signs can be used to inform people on what they can do in case of a fire. Fire safety signs are mainly used to enable people find means of escaping when a fire starts. They can also aid in finding emergency fire equipments. Fire and rescue services act The fire and rescue service act requires all fire and rescue authorities to encourage fire safety and prevention in residential and business premises. The act emphasizes on the importance of preventing fire than dealing on the consequences of the fire. Stopping fires occurrences is the first step that helps in lives and making people safer, especially the most vulnerable groups of people. Fire is still a main threat to people’s lives and research has revealed that the fire leads to loss of around £6.6 billion annually in Wales and England. The fire and rescue service responds to fire incidents quickly and effectively and emphasizes the best way in which lives can be saved and injuries and other losses can be reduced is through reducing the number of fires. However, more people perish in fire at night since the fire is discovered after it has greatly advanced. Generally this results because people are sleeping and do not possess a functioning smoke alarm that can awaken them. Every fire and rescue authority has already started to publicize and encourage fire prevention within their societies. The new duty that every fire and rescue authority must undertake is to make fire prevention a conventional activity. Authorities now drawing up Integrated Risk management Plans in order to recognize particular groups that are more vulnerable to fires and target resources appropriately through Home risk Assessments. For the fire and rescue authorities to move to a risk based and preventive approach, they will be needed to balance intervention and prevention. Lancashire fire and rescue service Risk management plan The Lancashire fire and rescue service risk management plan aims at delivering successful, genuine safety improvements to the community. It is concerned with providing excellent fire and rescue services to the people of Lancashire. This plan provides a variety of information on fire and rescue services. The plan greatly needs training, provision and equipping of a fire service so that it can be able to perform its work. The core responsibilities of a fire service are fire safety, fire fighting, and rescuing people who are stuck in fire accidents and offer protective measures. The plan also requires the fire and rescue service to make sure the services delivered are effective, efficient and offer best value. The plan emphasizes on the importance of enforcement of fire safety law in commercial and public buildings. The risk management plan has been compiled in order to reflect on the current fire safety and rescue measures, set an apparent direction and assess the additional measures that can be put in place to increase the efficiency of the fire and rescue service in reduction and prevention of fire incidents. Conclusion Fire remains a major threat to lives because it can cause death and destroy properties within a short period of time. Therefore preventive measures should be taken to eliminate or reduce the number of fires in business and residential premises. People should be educated on ways of preventing fires so as to avoid the consequences associated with fire accidents. Prevention of fire crisis will create a safer place for people to work and live in. A fire risk assessment is needed in order to identify the fire hazards and come up with measures that will help in elimination or reduction of fires. Bibliography Landoll, J., 2006, The security risk assessment handbook: a complete guide for performing security risk assessments, CRC Press, Chicago. Pritchard , J., 2002, Good practice in risk assessment and risk management, Jessica Kingsley Publishers, London. Furness, A., 2007, Introduction to fire safety management, Butterworth-Heinemann, New Jersey. Hughes, P., 2007, Introduction to Health and Safety at Work, 3rd Edition, Butterworth-Heinemann, Amsterdam. Hughes, P., 20072005, Fire Safety, Heinemann Library, Chicago. Mark, S., 2007, Introduction to Risk Management and Insurance, 9 th Edition, Englewood Cliffs, Prentice Hall. Read More