Hazardous Area Risk Assessment

The risk assessment (according to DSEAR Regulation 5(2)) should be sufficiently detailed so that the employer can decide what they need to do to eliminate or reduce the risks. If an employer has five or more employees then this assessment must be formally recorded.

The risk assessment should include:

• A review of substances used in the workplace
• The processes involving those substances
• The ways in which those substances and processes could harm people

Factors to be considered within a risk a assessment under Regulation 5(2)

1. the hazardous properties of the substance;
2. information on safety provided by the supplier, including information contained in any relevant safety data sheet;
3. the circumstances of the work including -
   1. the work processes and substances used and their possible interactions;
   2. the amount of the substance involved;
   3. where the work will involve more than one dangerous substance, the risk presented by such substances in combination;
4. the arrangements for the safe handling, storage and transport of dangerous substances and of waste containing dangerous substances;
5. activities, such as maintenance, where there is the potential for a high level of risk;
6. the effect of measures which have been or will be taken pursuant to these Regulations;
7. the likelihood that an explosive atmosphere will occur and its persistence;
8. the likelihood that ignition sources, including electrostatic discharges, will be present and become active and effective;
9. the scale of the anticipated effects of a fire or an explosion;
10. any places which are or can be connected via openings to places in which explosive atmospheres may occur; and
11. such additional safety information as the employer may need in order to complete the risk assessment.