Having identified hazards and determined that people are at risk of injury or illness from them, there is a legal obligation for employers to do something about them.
Clause 11 of the Occupational Health and Safety Regulation 2001 states that an employer must eliminate any reasonably foreseeable hazard and, if this is not practical, must control the risks. Clause 5 explains the meaning of ‘control of risks’.
If elimination of the hazard is not possible, then the risk still exists and should be minimised by using the most effective method, in the following order:
- substituting the system of work or machinery with something safer
- isolating the hazard
- minimising the risk by introducing engineering controls eg. guard rail, scaffolding
- minimising the risk by adopting administrative controls eg. warning signs, safe work practices
- using personal protective equipment eg. safety glasses, ear muffs.
If no single control is sufficient, a combination of the above controls needs to be put in place to minimise the risk to the lowest level that is reasonably practical.
The measures at the fourth and fifth levels are less effective, and require more frequent reviews of the hazards and systems of work.
Once implemented, control strategies should be documented. They also need to be properly used and maintained, and training should be provided where necessary.
Ongoing monitoring and review are necessary to ensure the continuing appropriateness of controls and to encourage continual improvement.