Forest Operations > Risk Assessment

Risk Assessment

What are Risk Assessments?

Risk Assessments are evaluations of machines, equipment, tasks and the environment against what we consider to be acceptable standards.

They can be formal or informal, and reporting hazards can be done either verbally or in writing.

Risk Assessments involve a process of identifying hazards, assessing the risks and putting in place controls to eliminate or manage the risk.

Further definitions of these terms can be found at the front of this guide.

The risk management process should include these five steps:

1. Identify the hazards;
2. Assess and then prioritise the risks;
3. Decide which control measures to apply (using Hierarchy of Controls);
4. Implement selected control measures;
5. Monitor record and review the effectiveness of control measures.

For further information regarding the Risk Management Process / Steps refer to Risk Management Steps.

Informal Risk Assessment

An informal Risk Assessment is made by you many times during your daily activities and work tasks.

Some examples of an Informal Risk Assessment in daily activities would be when:

• You are driving your car in town and approaching a round-about, you quickly make an informal risk assessment to drive through the round-about, or whether you need to stop and give way to traffic to prevent an accident.
• Making sure a ladder is placed on level ground, the correct angle and leaning on something solid at the top before you climb on.

Examples of informal risk assessments at work would be when:

• Driving a machine in steep terrain and where its angle limits are;
• Climbing in/out of a machine the correct way so you don’t hurt yourself.

These four examples of risk assessments are made by you without much thought.

You make informal risk assessments everyday at home, on your way to work, at work and with sports and hobbies.

Formal Risk Assessment

A formal Risk Assessment is usually carried out using a checklist to help evaluate the condition of machines, equipment and the surrounding environment (Fig 11). 

Best done by more than one person, it requires the assessor to have good knowledge of the safety standards and performance levels expected from people, machines, and equipment.

Surrounding work environment should be included into the risk assessment.

Examples of where and when a Formal Risk Assessment may be used are:

To evaluate the likelihood and severity of harm that might come from a hazard;

When hazards may be unguarded moving parts on machinery, equipment or tools;

The environment or the way manual tasks are performed.

Fig 11.