What is a dynamic risk assessment?

Posted 5 years ago

Risk assessments are used to keep people safe from harm. By law, every employer has to create a risk assessment for health & safety risks within their working environment.

As well as keeping your workers safe from any risks posed by your work, risk assessments are also needed to show due diligence to current health and safety legislation.

The HSE report that there were over 0.7 million non-fatal work-related injuries in 2019/20, so there is clearly room for improvement when it comes to identifying risks before they cause an accident. And, with the annual costs of work-related injury and new cases of ill health in 2018/19 costing organisations an estimated £16.2 billion, employers should be encouraged to take action.

What is a dynamic risk assessment?

A dynamic risk assessment is a continuous process of observing, assessing and analysing an environment to identify hazards and remove risk while completing a task. They require some quick decisions about safety. They don’t replace a risk assessment but can complement one when you need to assess any unknowns that cannot be predicted or that change during your task. They allow for flexibility, continual assessment and changing environments.

It was initially introduced for fire services but has been extended to situations which have the potential to evolve.

Who should use a dynamic risk assessment?

Lone workers can find dynamic risk assessments particularly useful due to the fact they’re often changing working environments.

An electrician, for example, will be going from house to house to do their job. But with different risks associated with each house, they must consider trip hazards, hazardous substances, and even pets.

Alternatively, workers who are always working in the same environment can still use dynamic risk assessments to identify dangerous situations. For example, retail workers could potentially have an altercation with an aggressive shopper.

The benefits of a dynamic risk assessment

There are many benefits of using dynamic risk assessments, particularly for those in changing working environments, but here are a few of the main benefits:

It enables workers to confidently assess their working environment, which provides comfort for them knowing what to do to avoid risks.
It allows workers to be more confident in doing their day-to-day tasks, as they don’t have to live in fear of the hazards that could unexpectedly pop up.
It gives workers the confidence to proactively assess any hazards that could arise.

What’s the difference between a dynamic risk assessment and common sense?

There isn’t much differentiating the two, however, employees should be educated on using their instinct and how to be more aware of their surroundings and environment.

So, by understanding how to carry out a dynamic risk assessment, workers will have the knowledge needed to confidently assess any situation they encounter to ensure their safety.

That’s what our Online Risk Assessment Training was designed for. With over 38.8 million working days lost in the UK each year due to workplace injuries & ill-health, workers need to be aware of how to examine their situation; not just for their own safety, but also the safety of the people around them. Get started with your free no-obligation trial today!

Our training breaks down why you should assess risks, when you should assess risks, and the steps to do so. It also gives you access to our free risk assessment tool, which allows you to create unlimited risk assessments. Simply register and gain instant access to the tool!