Risk Assessment Requirements in Jersey - Your Questions Answered

Coppolo & Coyde (Jersey) Limited have received a number of queries concerning risk assessment requirements in Jersey.  Jonathan Coyde responds to the most frequently asked questions in a question and answer format below:

1. As an employer in Jersey could you give me an idea of the type of things I should do to comply with the risk assessment requirements defined within Article 3 of the Health and Safety at Work (Jersey) Law 1989.

A risk assessment is simply a careful examination of anything in the workplace that could cause people to suffer injury or ill health whilst they are at work. 

Employers need to make sure that someone with a sound knowledge of the workplace and who understands the principles of risk assessment is appointed to conduct these assessments.  In certain circumstances specialist's may need to be brought in to assist with complicated or technical assessment i.e. plant room noise assessment or other high risk activities.

The employer should then make a list of the work tasks they are responsible for and then ensure that their risk assessors assess the risk in each task.  The risks from some tasks can effectively be ignored as they will present a trivial risk i.e. cuts to the hand when folding paper in an office but some work tasks will need carefully assessing as the risk will be far greater i.e. using a circular saw bench in a workshop or accessing a roof in a building.

2. Can you outline examples of what employers may have to include in the risk assessment recording requirements which come into force in June?

The June 2010 requirement to record the significant findings of a risk assessment applies to organisations who employ 5 or more employees.  If you employ less than 5 employees, it is still recommended that you keep a written record of your assessment for future reference and this also helps you demonstrate to third parties that the assessment was actually done. Starting with a blank sheet of paper does not help a busy employer and so the Health & Safety Inspectorate and the UK Health & Safety Executive (http://www.hse.gov.uk/risk/casestudies/index.htm) provide freely downloadable example risk assessments which may give the employer a head start. 

Clearly every workplace is different so it would not be acceptable to simply download this assessment and state it is your own.  Employers who choose to use these example assessments should ensure they are specifically tailored to their workplace. The employer should implement any the findings of these risk assessments.

This will involve setting out what actions are needed, in what time frame as higher risks will have priority and who will implement the actions. Actions can then be signed off as they are completed. The risk assessment should be discussed with staff, to check they understand it and it can be displayed in the staffroom and made part of the induction process for new staff.