Risk Assessment Form, 1

Factsheet 14. Risk Assessment Guidance

To request this document as a Word Format please email Lynne Simpkin or the Finance Officer.
This guide outlines what a risk assessment is and why and how you should complete it. It is aimed at Students Union Club, Society
and Peer Support Group Committee members and activity leaders. Throughout, activity is used to describe the subject of the risk
assessment, this could be training sessions, trips, fundraising events, competitions, fixtures events, performances, social events, balls,
exhibitions, conferences or anything else a club or society does.

Risk Assessment Guidance 1
What is a risk assessment? 1
Do I need to complete a risk assessment? 2
What about external venue/supplier and external events? 2
What information is needed for a risk assessment? 2 3
What sort of hazards and risks should I include? 3
How to complete the Risk assessment form 4
What do I do once I have completed the risk assessment? 5
Risk Assessment 6

What is a risk assessment?
A Risk Assessment is simply that - an assessment of the risk involved in an activity. It is a record of your safety checks for the whole
activity and what actions you will take to minimise the potential danger in an activity. It is a living document and once completed
should be circulated to all those involved in the activity and a copy displayed at the location of the activity.

Why should I complete a risk assessment?
As activity organisers you have a duty of care towards your participants/attendees and ensuring their health and safety. You must
identify any risks to them and put controls in place to reduce these risks to an acceptable level. A risk assessment helps you plan
your activity to ensure it runs successfully and inform those helping you run the activity or taking part of procedures that should be
followed. In the event of an incident, a risk assessment can be used to show that you did everything to make your activity safe. You
must be confident that your activity is safe for all involved.



Risk Assessment Form, 2

Do I need to complete a risk assessment?
Every activity that your group organises should be risk assessed. You can produce a generic risk assessment to cover your main
activity, e.g. dance classes, trips, practices, but you will also need to produce a specific risk assessment for any other activities you
organise or if you change your main activity, e.g. trips to locations with additional hazards, practices at a different type of venue,
cake sale, and fundraiser.

What about external venues, suppliers and external events?
If some or all of your activity is part of an externally coordinated event you should contact the organisers to get a copy of their risk
assessment. Equally if you are using an external venue or supplier they should have a risk assessment to cover some or all of your
activities, e.g. a catering company providing food or a local club providing venue for a fundraising club night. You should make
sure that your planned activities are covered by their risk assessment and produce an additional risk assessment if there will be
other activities or risks that are not covered, e.g. extra social events or transport to the venue.

What information is needed for a risk assessment?
In your risk assessment you will identify hazards, risks, the level of these risks, who is at risk, how you will control these risks and
whether the risk level with your controls is acceptable.

Hazard: The thing which could cause the problem, something potentially hazardous to health: Contaminated meat,
electrical supply, broken glass, etc.

Risk: What could happen if someone came into contact with that uncontrolled hazard. E.g. For contaminated meat the risk
is Food Borne Illness / Food Poisoning, for electrical supply the risk is shocks, burns, fires. etc.

Risk Rating: From a first aid injury to a fatality.

Likelihood: How likely/possible is it that the hazard would occur.

Controls: How would you make the hazard less hazardous and the risk less likely to happen or less risky, e.g. to control the risk
of food contamination you could buy ingredients from reputable supplier and have food hygiene certificated people preparing
and cooking food etc.

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Risk tolerable with controls?: Once you have put in the relevant control measures and check for reducing the risk of the
hazard occurring, are you happy for that part of the event to happen? Has the control measure effectively reduced the risk of the
hazard to a degree that feels manageable and acceptable for all involved? If so, mark as yes. N.B. Dont mark as yes simply
because you want that part of the activity to happen. Make sure you are comfortable with the controls and the remaining hazard.
Once youve marked it as Yes then you are taking on the responsibility for your controls ensuring the safety of those involved. For
advice on how to make that activity safe or at least less hazardous contact any of the staff below who will be happy to help.
lynne.simpkin@uea.ac.uk(for Society activities) or James at j.raywood@uea.ac.uk (for Sports Club activities).

The risk assessment table has space for you to give more information about your activity, the more you can tell us about what will
be happening; the easier it is for us to provide suitable advice. You can then list your hazard, risk and control information (you will
probably need to insert more rows).

What sort of hazards and risks should I include?
You should consider anything which could realistically be hazardous to those attending/taking part in your activity. You do not
have to include extremely unlikely hazards, e.g. meteor may land on marquee or a ridiculous level of detail, e.g. participants
may trip over their shoelaces (the latter may be relevant in some kinds of physical activity but could be included in the more
general risk of participants may trip or have restricted movements for which a control could be participants will be advised to
wear loose clothing and footwear suitable for slippery floors depending on your activity).

Your risk assessment should cover setting up for your activity, running it and clearing up afterwards (if applicable). Take a look
through the following list of areas to consider but remember that it does not cover all activities and you should carefully consider
the specific details of your activity;

Electricity: How will you know your equipment is suitable for your proposed use? How will you know your appliances are
safe? How will you ensure no one trips over your cables? How will you set up and remove the equipment safely? How will you make
sure that participants use the equipment correctly?

Manual handling: How will you set up and remove your equipment safely? How will you move equipment around? How will
your assistants know how to correctly lift and carry heavy items? How will you make sure you participants dont get injured during
your set-up and clear up?

Risk Assessment Form, 4

Visitors/participants: How will your participants know what to do? Do they need any prior experience? Will they need
specialist equipment? How many people can you safely accommodate? How will they escape from your venue in the event of an
emergency? Will you need stewards? What will they do? How will they know what is required of them?

Food: How will you safely prepare food? Who will prepare the food? Are they suitably qualified/briefed? Is their equipment
suitable? How will you store food safely? How will you serve food to avoid contamination? Do you require any specialist equipment
to prepare/store/transport/serve food? There is a specific factsheet on food and food preparation so look at this guidance before
filling out your risk assessment.

Trips: How will participants know where to go? If youre providing transport how will you make sure people safely reach the
venue? Do you have participants next of kin details in case of an emergency? What will you do if someone gets lost? Do
participants require any experience/equipment? How will they know how to correctly use this? There is a specific factsheet on
organising trips so look at this guidance before filling out your risk assessment.

Performances: Where will your audience be in relation to the performers? How will you safely set up and remove your
equipment/staging/set? How will you ensure participants are sufficiently prepared?

Make sure that your controls are realistic, i.e. dont say that youll provide personalised inductions for all participants if youre
expecting 300 in the space of 20 minutes and only have one person to supervise, and detailed, i.e. dont just say well lay cables
safely say cables will be taped behind display boards and covered with a cable cover where they cross walkways. You must
obviously make sure that you can and do put your controls in place for your activity so there is no point saying that the trip leader
will carry spare equipment and a spare tent and a first aid kit and additional water and extra ropes and cleaning materials theyll
never make it out of the minibus with that much to carry! If you specify that a committee member will bring a first aid kit they must
bring a first aid kit otherwise you are not conforming to your risk assessment


How to complete the risk assessment form

1. Complete section 1 of Risk Assessment form with your contact details and the name, date & location of your event/activity you
are responsible for the Risk Assessment and for ensuring the control measures are followed at the event.

Risk Assessment Form, 5
2. Complete Possible Hazards section of form here you should state anything that could be classed as dangerous or hazardous
to a person or to equipment.
3. Complete Control Measures section of form a control measure is something that can be done to reduce or remove the
hazard. Think carefully about these and about what you will actually do at your social/event/activity to reduce and remove
hazards.
4. Complete Risk Rating section of form severity of risk is measured on the outcome in the event of an accident. Please see
table Severity of Risk/Likelihood of Risk for information.
6. Complete Rate Likelihood section of form likelihood of risk is measured 1-5. Please see table Severity of Risk/Likelihood of
Risk for information.
7. The risk rating is the Severity of Risk letter and the Likelihood of Risk number. Refer to the Risk Rating Chart for information on your
Risk Rating. You may need to take further action to reduce risks before your event goes ahead, for example thinking of further
control measures.
8 and above - Cannot go ahead without receiving immediate attention to remove/reduce risk or stop work activity
5-7 The activity can go ahead, but only with prior approval, and all possible risk reduction measures should be
implemented as soon as possible.
3-4 - No additional controls are required unless they can be implemented at very low cost (in terms of time, money and
effort).
1-2- No further action necessary.


What do I do once I have completed the risk assessment?
Once you have completed your risk assessment please email it to lynne.simpkin@uea.ac.uk(for Society activities) or
j.raywood@uea.ac.uk (for Sports Club activities). We will take a look at it and email you back with any necessary amendments. We
will then let you know once your risk assessment has been approved. We will hold a copy of the finalised risk assessment for
reference. You should distribute your risk assessment to anyone else involved in the activity and display a copy at the events
location.



Risk Assessment Form, 6
Incidents and Accidents

Despite taking all precautions, accidents can still occur. The following procedures are designed to provide fast and safe
assistance to all concerned, to supply the Students Union with the specific information it needs, and to protect the individual(s)
concerned.
The reporting of any near miss occurrence is also vital for the future safety of all individuals. This information helps others to plan
and prepare in order to avoid possible dangers.
If an incident occurs on University/Union property, contact a member of staff or qualified first aid person immediately.
If an incident occurs at another University or Sports facility, follow the instructions from an official representative of the
establishment.
In the event of a serious accident;
o Contact emergency services.
o Ensure comfort of casualty but do not move them.
o Ensure safety of others present.
All injuries or near misses must be recorded by law; complete an accident/near miss form (available from the reception in the
Hive). These should be completed within 24 hours of the incident so it can be assessed by Human Resources as to whether it is
reportable under Health and Safety Legislation.
Failure to follow this procedure can result in the prosecution of the University/Union and the individual concerned by the
Health and Safety Executive. Disciplinary action would also be taken against the offending individual/club.

First Aid
There is the potential in every Sport for an accident to occur. It is therefore very important that first aid assistance is available for
every high risk club. The Sports Development Co-Ordinator will speak to clubs who are high risk regarding their training. If you would
like a member of your committee to have first aid training as you feel it is necessary then please contact Lynne.simpkin@uea.ac.uk
or union.finance@uea.ac.uk



Risk Assessment Form, 7

RISK ASSESSMENT FORM
Risk Assessment Form

Activity being Assessed:
Location of activity:

Dates of Activity:

Who is exposed to the risk:

Contact details:





Assessors name:
Committee
position:
Assessors signature:

Date approved:



Legislation applicable: Disability Discrimination; Health and Safety At Work Act 1974; Waste Management; Fire Precautions

Risk Assessment Form, 8

No. Possible Hazard
List the hazards associated
with the activity
Control Measures already in place to
control the risk
List any safety measures that are already in
place to control the risks
Risk rating
score with
existing
controls
L x S
Refer to matrix
below
Additional controls
required
List in this column any extra
safety controls or
precautions that are
required but are not
currently in place
Risk rating
score with
new
controls
(Residual
Risk)
L x S
Refer to
matrix below
Completed
(Control
measures
met)
Where
additional
control
measures are
required, fill this
column in with
the date that
they were put in
place



Risk Assessment Form, 9
No. Possible Hazard
List the hazards associated
with the activity
Control Measures already in place to
control the risk
List any safety measures that are already in
place to control the risks
Risk rating
score with
existing
controls
L x S
Refer to matrix
below
Additional controls
required
List in this column any extra
safety controls or
precautions that are
required but are not
currently in place
Risk rating
score with
new
controls
(Residual
Risk)
L x S
Refer to
matrix below
Completed
(Control
measures
met)
Where
additional
control
measures are
required, fill this
column in with
the date that
they were put in
place



Risk Assessment Form, 10
No. Possible Hazard
List the hazards associated
with the activity
Control Measures already in place to
control the risk
List any safety measures that are already in
place to control the risks
Risk rating
score with
existing
controls
L x S
Refer to matrix
below
Additional controls
required
List in this column any extra
safety controls or
precautions that are
required but are not
currently in place
Risk rating
score with
new
controls
(Residual
Risk)
L x S
Refer to
matrix below
Completed
(Control
measures
met)
Where
additional
control
measures are
required, fill this
column in with
the date that
they were put in
place
.





11

ASSESSMENT GUIDANCE
Risk = Likelihood x Severity - Use the hazard matrix below to calculate the risk rating for the activity:
First Aid injury/illness Minor injury/illness 3 day injury/illness Major injury/illness Fatality/disabling injury
1 2 3 4 5
Very likely 5 5 10 15 20 25
Fairly likely 4 4 8 12 16 20
Likely 3 3 6 9 12 15
Unlikely 2 2 4 6 8 10
Very unlikely 1 1 2 3 4 5
Use the following to rate the risk and plan corrective action:
Risk Level Category Tolerability Comments
1- 2 VERY LOW acceptable No further action is necessary other than to ensure that the controls are maintained.
3 4 LOW acceptable No additional controls are required unless they can be implemented at very low cost (in terms of time, money
and effort).
5 7 MEDIUM tolerable Consideration should be given as to whether the risks can be lowered, where applicable, to a more acceptable
level. The risk reduction measures should be implemented within a defined time period.
8 - 14 HIGH unacceptable Contact Lynne Simpkin or Ian Welch before going ahead with this activity.
15 and
above
VERY HIGH unacceptable Substantial improvements in risk control are necessary, so that risk is reduced to a tolerable or
acceptable level. Contact Lynne Simpkin or Ian Welch before going ahead with this activity.

Risk assessment reviewed as
acceptable by .
Coordinator.

asnand and fundraising coordinato

Signed:
Date:
Job
Title: