Q & A - May 2009
May 1st 2009

“I work at a travel company and have been asked to carry out a risk assessment for our small sales office (20 people). What sorts of points do I need to consider?”

Offices are not normally considered to be particularly hazardous environments but each year, thousands of people are injured as a result of accidents at work. Most of these can be prevented by taking sensible precautions - carrying out a risk assessment is the key.

Slips and trips

Slips and trips are the most common cause of accidents. Slipping on wet surfaces, tripping over leads, falling over loose items on the floor all can be avoided so look at keeping floors safe, gangways clear and manage cables. Check the cleaning routines are adequate in wet weather, particularly at busy areas such as entrances and exits and make sure any spillages are cleared up as quickly as possible - remember this includes the kitchen and vending machine areas too.

Manual handling

If members of staff have to move or lift loads check whether it is possible to avoid the need for manual handling operations. If you cannot do that look to see if providing handling aids and equipment will reduce the risks and ensure that anyone regularly handling loads receives relevant training.

Display Screen Equipment (DSE)

Carry out a DSE (display screen equipment) risk assessment to look at the nature of the work being done and investigate any reports of discomfort or difficulty as they may indicate more serious problems if the causes are left unchanged.

Stress

Stress is a normal part of life but it becomes a problem when the level of stress experienced is difficult to manage. Look out for physical signs of stress such as: tiredness; headaches; nervousness and untidiness. Emotional signs include irritability, anxiety and a lack of selfconfidence. Minimise the risk by adopting some protective measures.You can do this by ensuring as a company you have a positive management culture by making sure everyone has a clear set of objectives and communication is two-way. Regularly monitor workloads and check any targets are not seen as unreasonable.

Electricity

Electricity may seem a strange topic for office safety but there are around 1000 accidents at work a year involving electric shock or burns and around 3% of these are fatal. Faulty electrical installations or equipment are also a major cause of fires in offices.

It is therefore essential that a competent electrician inspects and tests the installation every 3-5 years. Where staff use their own electrical appliances such as kettles or fan heaters these should be subject to the same inspections as company owned equipment.

Assessing the risks you face need not be an arduous task and will bring significant business benefits for you and your staff.

Andrew Couch

Norwich Union Risk Services - an Aviva Company

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