What should be considered before I start the risk assessment?

Before the potential risks and hazards at the workplace are identified, employers should first carefully prepare the complete risk assessment process. This includes the definition of who should be included, what the different roles and responsibilities are and what the different steps of the assessment will be. 

The action plan should include: 

• commissioning, organizing and coordinating the assessment; 
• appointing competent people to make the assessments; the persons carrying out the risk assessment can be the employers themselves, employees designated by the employers, external assessors and service providers; 
• consulting workers’ representatives on arrangements for the appointment of those who will make the assessments in accordance with national laws and practices;
• providing the necessary information, training, resources and support to assessors who are the employer’s own employees; 
• Involving management and encouraging the participation of the workforce; 
• ensuring that the risk assessment is documented;
• informing and consulting workers and/or their representatives on the results of the risk assessment and on the measures to be introduced; 
• ensuring that the preventive and protective measures take account of the results of the assessment; and
• monitoring and reviewing the protective and preventive measures to ensure that their effectiveness is maintained.