Risk assessment and control

A risk assessment is a careful examination of what could cause harm to people in the work environment.
Businesses must perform risk assessments to identify hazards, evaluate the risk, and take necessary actions to mitigate these risks.
It’s not possible to eliminate all hazards, but you can minimise the risk by introducing appropriate control measures.
The purpose of a risk assessment is to prevent accidents from happening by identifying potential hazards in advance.

Identifying the hazards involves recognising things that may cause harm to individuals. In a hospitality environment, this could be wet floors, sharp objects, hot equipment, or inappropriate food handling.
Determining who might be harmed and how is the next step. This could include employees, customers, or anyone else who might access the premises.
Evaluating risks and deciding on precautions. Once all hazards have been identified and analyzed, appropriate controls to safety measures be implemented to reduce these hazards to acceptable levels.
Once actions have been implemented, it is imperative to record significant findings.
Lastly, reviewing the risk assessment and updating if necessary - it’s important to keep risk assessments up to date, especially if there are significant changes to the business that could lead to new hazards.

Simple control measures such as using signage to signal wet floors or hot surfaces, providing personal protective equipment, using safety devices on sharp equipment, and promoting safe manual handling practices are invaluable.
Training and informing all staff about these control measures is essential to ensure they are effective.
Control measures need to be monitored and reviewed regularly to ensure they continue to provide adequate protection.

Employers are legally obliged to conduct risk assessments under the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999.
Failure to comply with these regulations could result in legal action, fines, or even a shutdown of the business.
The safety of the public and staff must always be the main priority in the hospitality industry, and risk assessments are an essential part of maintaining this safety.