Can I write generic Risk Assessments?
Writing a risk assessment can take quite a lot of effort in order to research and produce a proper document. It can simplify matters a great deal if you select some of the tasks you frequently do and write a general assessment of that task.
Remember that you must consider the person or people who might be harmed in any situation and so you will always need to check that the assessment is valid where you want to use it and that operatives know that it must be used.
Generic assessments can also work quite well for chemicals so that you can collect information about the range of paints you use, for instance, assess the risks, work out the controls and decide what protective equipment you could need. This will mean that when you are under pressure to get a job done you will not have to spend time finding out about safety or health matters.
You can also use generic assessments to define when the risk is unacceptable to you. An example might be that you will not do any work on asbestos materials. You might have decided this for health reasons or for liability reasons, the decision is equally valid.
As with any risk assessment, you need positive output in the form of actions. It is not enough to write down what should be done. You must do what you say will be done and check employees do too.
Remember you could be jointly liable if your employees do not obey safety instructions and you know that they are not doing so.
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