Risk Assessments and SOPs (Safe Operating Procedures)
A Risk Assessment is a structured way of analysing any activity or piece of plant to determine the associated risk. A SOP is a document which provides general guidance on how to safely operate a piece of plant; it is a common control measure that may arise from having done a Risk Assessment.
It is a University requirement that all 'Plant' (any physical powered object e.g. equipment, components) is reviewed to check if a Risk Assessment is required. If it is, this must be completed BEFORE the activity is commenced or BEFORE the plant is purchased.
Complex tasks which require considered thought before commencing, as well as chemicals, should also be risk assessed; contact the Health and Safety Officer for Task or Chemical Risk Assessments.
Creating a new Plant Risk Assessment
- Review the Plant Decision Tree. This helps you identify whether or not you need to do a Risk Assessment, as many pieces of Plant have no or few hazards.
- Complete a Plant Risk Assessment. Use this template to complete a Plant Risk Assessment if the Decision Tree (step 1 above) indicates it is necessary.
- Send the completed Risk Assessment to the Health and Safety Officer so our records are kept up to date.
Creating a new SOP (Safe Operating Procedure)
Create a new SOP. This template helps you to create a SOP, a common control measure from a Risk Assessment.
View Existing Risk Assessments and SOPs
We maintain a catalogue of our existing Risk Assessments and SOP's. While paper copies of these documents may exist, the electronic copies at these links will always hold the latest versions of these documents.
- View Existing Risk Assessments (University authentication required)
- View Existing SOPs (University authentication required)
Why We Need Risk Assessments
Risk Assessments allow users to identify risks associated with plant or equipment prior to starting work so remedial action can be taken before there is any chance of injury or damage.
An overview of the Risk Assessment process (View as ppt (PowerPoint) / View as pps (PowerPoint Viewer)
