Risk management

What is risk management?

Risk management is the process of identifying, evaluating and controlling risks at the workplace.

It is a cornerstone of the workplace safety and health framework to foster an accident-prevention culture, and its requirements are stipulated in accordance with the Workplace Safety and Health (Risk Management) Regulations.

Risk management involves:

• Conducting risk assessments of work activities.
• Controlling and monitoring the risks of work activities.
• Communicating the risks to all stakeholders.

Your workplace must conduct regular risk assessments to identify the source of risks. After that, it should take reasonable steps to eliminate or minimise the risk.

Regulations

The Workplace Safety and Health (Risk Management) Regulations state that employers, self-employed persons and principals (including contractors and sub-contractors) are responsible for identifying safety and health hazards at workplaces and taking measures to eliminate or reduce the risks.

For more information on the regulations, see the following:

• Press release on risk management by the Workplace Safety and Health Advisory Committee (WSHAC, now known as the WSH Council)
• Guide to Workplace Safety and Heath (Risk Management) Regulations

Conducting risk assessments

Risk assessments are a key part of risk management. Your workplace should conduct risk assessments for all routine and non-routine operations:

• Routine operations include preparatory and troubleshooting work.
• Non-routine operations include commissioning, repair and maintenance of plants.

For risk assessments, you should:

• Use risk assessment methods that include the 3 basic steps of:
  
  • Hazard identification
  • Risk evaluation
  • Risk control
• Select control measures based on the principles of Hierarchy of Control.

You need to build a multidisciplinary team to conduct risk assessments.

Risk assessment team

You should include the following members in your risk assessment team:

• Management
• Process or facility engineers
• Technical staff
• Supervisors
• Production operators
• Maintenance staff
• Safety staff
• Contractors and suppliers

The team leader should be trained in risk assessment. Alternatively, you can hire a trained and experienced safety consultant to help conduct the risk assessment.

To find training courses, refer to the accredited training providers for risk management courses.

Resources

You can access guides and forms for risk management and assessment:

• Approved code of practice on WSH Risk Management – guidance on how duty holders can fulfil their legal obligations and implement risk management.
• Inventory of work activities form
• Risk register cover sheet
• Risk assessment form

For more information and help on implementing risk management, see the following:

• bizSAFE communities
• Accredited Training Providers for the Risk Management Course
• Case study: risk management in Britain