Published March 2020. This version replaces ‘Health and Safety Risk Assessment for Ground Investigation’ document which was published in 2010.
Health and safety practice require action to protect those at work on site including any members of the public who may be affected. Managers are therefore required to identify the threats to their workers’ (and others’) health and safety, and then to take appropriate steps to ensure protection. That is what is meant by doing everything reasonably practicable to ensure the health, safety and welfare of employees and anyone else who may be affected by the work being carried out (as detailed in the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974).
The method employed to identify the risks and suitable control measures is a risk assessment. There are also individual regulations that require specific risk assessments to be carried out including those covering noise, ionising radiation, hazardous substances and manual handling. The risk assessment is the precursor to the method statement. Many clients and contractors refer to these documents as RAMS.
The purpose of this procedure is to ensure that the risk assessment system is understood and utilised to a suitable and sufficient standard in all operations.