DYNAMIC RISK ASSESSMENT

Whatever the industry we work in, whatever our role, we all make daily dynamic risk assessments in the workplace. Most of the time we don’t even realise that’s what we are doing, we’ll pick up a piece of gravel that might snag a rolling chair, we’ll move an object to a more secure position, we’ll make sure a heavy door doesn’t swing back. But sometimes we need to be reminded that even if we’ve been doing the same job for days/weeks/months things change, and we need to make dynamic risk assessments to keep ourselves (and our colleagues) safe.

Whatever we do, wherever we are, whether we’re at work, at home or on the roads, we pride ourselves on carrying out Dynamic Risk Assessments. Fundamentally it’s nothing dramatic or bureaucratic, we simply “stop and think” before we do things and we teach that to our Trainees on our “Independent culture” and ‘Personal Safety Workshops’ – we’ve realized that simply to stop and think for a couple of seconds is an investment worth making. Whether we’re travelling on business, shopping, going on holiday, carrying out DIY or gardening, a little thought goes a long way. It doesn’t have to be written down, as long as we act on what we have concluded.

And being dynamic risk assessments, we continue to think on our feet, as sometimes things change, the goalposts move or the environment changes. A good friend of ours is a Station Officer in Fire & Rescue. While they are heavily proceduralised (and rightly so) every new fire/emergency requires a Dynamic Risk Assessment – and even after a procedure has been agreed, they have to be aware of changes – perhaps a building they thought empty suddenly has someone appear at a window. Or may be the wind changes direction and they have to think again.