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Professional risk assessment

Occupational Health, Safety and Risk Resilience Risk Assessment: Hazards, Controls and Recovery

A worked example of how a small operations team finds, scores and controls the health and safety hazards that threaten workers, service continuity and trust, from manual handling and chemical exposure to health data handling and supplier failure.

Updated November 2026 8 hazards assessed Review every 6 months Highest risk: Critical to Medium
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Executive summary

This assessment shows how a workplace team can find, score and control the health and safety risks that threaten its people, its services and its legal duties. Eight hazards were selected because they are plausible in everyday field, store and office work. Continuity during disruption, manual handling, chemical exposure, workload pressure and competence gaps carry the highest inherent scores, while incident records, supplier failure and health data handling are also significant. Each hazard is scored before controls and again after existing and added controls. Continuity is rated Critical before controls and falls to Medium after cross trained cover and a reduced operating plan. Most other hazards move to Medium or Low. The first actions are named owners, a single incident log, practical competence sign offs and a tested recovery. The site, sector and jurisdiction are teaching assumptions, so every score illustrates method rather than describing a real workplace.

Focus area
Occupational health, safety and risk resilience
Setting
Operations team of a small to mid-sized workplace with field, store and office tasks
Method
Five by five likelihood and impact risk register with inherent and residual scoring

Scope

This assessment covers the health, safety and resilience of one workplace team, from routine tasks and hazard controls to health records, training, suppliers and continuity during disruption. It looks at risks to people, service delivery, legal duties and reputation. It does not cover any real site, employer or jurisdiction. Location, sector, legal regime and systems are assumptions made for teaching.

Context

The team is led by an operations manager and a health and safety lead, with supervisors for field and store work. Staff move between site visits, a storage area and office tasks, and some work alone or on call. Hazardous cleaning products and lifting equipment are used daily. A contracted occupational health adviser provides advice and health checks, and records are kept on a shared network with managed devices. Each hazard is scored before controls to show its natural level, then again after the existing controls and the controls that should be added.

Objectives, assets and stakeholders

The objective is to keep people safe and healthy at work, keep services running safely through disruption, meet the legal duties that apply, and keep the confidence of staff, clients and regulators. Assets in scope are people, protective equipment, hazardous products, health and sickness records, incident logs, the shared network and the continuity plan. Stakeholders include workers, contractors, supervisors, managers, the occupational health adviser, suppliers, clients, insurers and the relevant enforcement bodies. Every hazard has one owner role, and the health and safety lead reports the register to senior management each quarter, with the workforce invited to challenge it through safety meetings.

Risk matrix: before and after controls

Each cell shows hazard numbers placed by likelihood and impact. Compare the two grids to see how controls move each hazard.

Before controls

Inherent risk

Risk before controls: rows are likelihood from almost certain to rare, columns are impact from insignificant to catastrophic. Cells list hazard numbers.
1
Insignificant		 2
Minor		 3
Moderate		 4
Major		 5
Catastrophic
5 Almost certain Likelihood 5, impact 4, score 20, critical: H08
4 Likely Likelihood 4, impact 2, score 8, medium: H05 Likelihood 4, impact 3, score 12, high: H01 H03
3 Possible Likelihood 3, impact 3, score 9, medium: H06 Likelihood 3, impact 4, score 12, high: H02 H07 Likelihood 3, impact 5, score 15, high: H04
2 Unlikely
1 Rare

After controls

Residual risk

Risk after controls: rows are likelihood from almost certain to rare, columns are impact from insignificant to catastrophic. Cells list hazard numbers.
1
Insignificant		 2
Minor		 3
Moderate		 4
Major		 5
Catastrophic
5 Almost certain
4 Likely
3 Possible Likelihood 3, impact 2, score 6, medium: H03 Likelihood 3, impact 3, score 9, medium: H08
2 Unlikely Likelihood 2, impact 2, score 4, low: H05 H06 Likelihood 2, impact 3, score 6, medium: H01 H02 H07 Likelihood 2, impact 4, score 8, medium: H04
1 Rare
  • Low 1 to 4
  • Medium 5 to 9
  • High 10 to 16
  • Critical 17 to 25

Hazard register

A summary first, then the detail for each hazard.

Summary of hazards with scores before and after controls
No.HazardBeforeAfterOwner
H01 Manual handling and musculoskeletal injury 12 High 6 Medium Operations manager
H02 Chemical exposure from cleaning and process products 12 High 6 Medium Health and safety lead
H03 Workload pressure, fatigue and psychosocial harm 12 High 6 Medium People and learning lead
H04 Competence gaps in high risk tasks 15 High 8 Medium People and learning lead
H05 Incident reporting and record keeping gaps 8 Medium 4 Low Health and safety lead
H06 Supplier failure for protective equipment and services 9 Medium 4 Low Procurement lead
H07 Loss or misuse of health and sickness data 12 High 6 Medium IT manager
H08 Loss of safety critical operations during disruption 20 Critical 9 Medium Business continuity lead
H01

Manual handling and musculoskeletal injury

Safety Before 12 After 6

Lifting, carrying and repetitive reaching for equipment, stock or materials in cramped or uneven spaces can strain backs, shoulders and wrists, often building up over months before symptoms appear.

Who or what is affected: Field and store staff, supervisors and visiting contractors

Causes

Heavy or awkward loads, tight deadlines, missing lifting aids and staff working alone.

Consequences

Sickness absence, long term pain, compensation claims and extra cover costs for the team.

Existing controls

  • Lifting aids such as trolleys and hoists are provided for the heaviest loads.
  • Staff receive basic training on safe lifting at induction.

Control gaps

Lifting risk is assessed once at setup and not reviewed when tasks or layouts change.

Additional controls

  • Prevent: Redesign storage so frequent items sit between knee and shoulder height.
  • Detect: Record manual handling near misses and minor strains in a monthly log.
Likelihood 4 x impact 3 before; 2 x 3 after Owner: Operations manager Target: Within 60 days Early warning: Two or more reported strains in one work area within a month.
H02

Chemical exposure from cleaning and process products

Safety Before 12 After 6

Cleaning agents, solvents and dust from tasks can irritate skin and airways or cause longer term harm when containers are mixed, stored poorly or used without the right protection.

Who or what is affected: Cleaning staff, store workers and anyone nearby during use

Causes

Mixing of products, poor storage labels, rushed cleaning and protective equipment that is worn incorrectly.

Consequences

Skin and breathing problems, eye injury, sickness absence and possible enforcement attention.

Existing controls

  • A register of chemicals in use is kept for the workplace.
  • Gloves and eye protection are issued for each listed product.

Control gaps

Data sheets are filed centrally but are not checked against the products on each shelf.

Additional controls

  • Prevent: Replace the most hazardous products with lower risk alternatives where practical.
  • Respond: Keep a tested eye wash and spill kit at each work point and check them weekly.
Likelihood 3 x impact 4 before; 2 x 3 after Owner: Health and safety lead Target: Within 45 days Early warning: Missing or out of date data sheets found on a routine walk round.
H03

Workload pressure, fatigue and psychosocial harm

People Before 12 After 6

Sustained high workload, unclear roles and exposure to distressing cases can lead to stress, fatigue and poor concentration, which raises the chance of error and injury in safety critical tasks.

Who or what is affected: All staff, particularly those on call or in frontline roles

Causes

Understaffing, shift patterns with short rest breaks and peaks in demand.

Consequences

Burnout, mistakes in safety critical tasks, sickness absence and resignations.

Existing controls

  • An employee support route is available for confidential help.
  • Supervisors hold a short check in with each team member each month.

Control gaps

Workload is not measured, so pressure builds unnoticed until someone reports it.

Additional controls

  • Detect: Track hours, overtime and rest breaks against a simple workload measure each month.
  • Prevent: Set maximum consecutive shifts and rota cover rules for peak periods.
Likelihood 4 x impact 3 before; 3 x 2 after Owner: People and learning lead Target: Within 90 days Early warning: Overtime above the agreed limit in two consecutive weeks.
H04

Competence gaps in high risk tasks

People Before 15 After 8

Staff or contractors carry out tasks such as working at height, using powered equipment or handling hazardous products without current training, checks or supervision, so controls are not applied as designed.

Who or what is affected: Workers, contractors and anyone supervised by them

Causes

Out of date training records, fast turnover and reliance on experienced staff to teach others.

Consequences

Serious injury, enforcement attention, stopped work and loss of client trust.

Existing controls

  • Induction covers core safety rules and emergency routes.
  • A training matrix lists the courses needed for each role.

Control gaps

Competence is recorded as attended, not as checked in practice.

Additional controls

  • Prevent: Make current competence a condition of starting any listed high risk task.
  • Detect: Observe and sign off practical skills at least twice a year for each role.
Likelihood 3 x impact 5 before; 2 x 4 after Owner: People and learning lead Target: Within 60 days Early warning: Any listed task started by a person with an expired or missing certificate.
H05

Incident reporting and record keeping gaps

Legal and compliance Before 8 After 4

Incidents, near misses and health surveillance results are not recorded, reported or acted on within the time the applicable rules expect, so lessons are lost and legal duties go unmet.

Who or what is affected: Workers, managers, regulators and insurers

Causes

Reporting seen as blame, forms that are hard to use and no one assigned to review them.

Consequences

Unmet legal duties, repeated incidents, weaker insurance terms and reduced trust.

Existing controls

  • An incident form is available in the office and on the shared drive.
  • Serious injuries are reported to the manager on the day they occur.

Control gaps

Near misses are discussed informally and are not logged.

Additional controls

  • Prevent: Use a single short reporting form and a no blame statement at induction.
  • Respond: Review every logged incident within five working days and record the action taken.
Likelihood 4 x impact 2 before; 2 x 2 after Owner: Health and safety lead Target: Within 30 days Early warning: Near misses recorded in a month that are lower than the number of toolbox talks held.
H06

Supplier failure for protective equipment and services

Supplier Before 9 After 4

A supplier of protective equipment, monitoring services or occupational health advice delivers late, defective or non compliant goods or services, leaving controls unsupported and workers exposed.

Who or what is affected: Workers, contractors and service users

Causes

Single source supply, weak contract terms and little checking of certificates.

Consequences

Work stops, unsafe use of defective equipment and unplanned cost.

Existing controls

  • Key suppliers are listed with current contact details.
  • Purchases of protective equipment go through an approved list.

Control gaps

Supplier certificates are filed but not checked against the product in use.

Additional controls

  • Prevent: Qualify a second supplier for critical items and check their certificates each year.
  • Detect: Inspect a sample of each delivery against the specification before it is issued.
Likelihood 3 x impact 3 before; 2 x 2 after Owner: Procurement lead Target: Within 90 days Early warning: Two late or rejected deliveries of the same critical item in one quarter.
H07

Loss or misuse of health and sickness data

Technology and data Before 12 After 6

Health records, sickness data and incident details held on shared drives or mobile devices can be lost, altered or seen by people who have no need to know, breaching privacy and trust.

Who or what is affected: Workers, occupational health staff and the records owner

Causes

Shared logins, spreadsheets saved on personal devices and no regular access review.

Consequences

Privacy breach, distress for staff, regulator notice and loss of trust.

Existing controls

  • Files are stored on a managed network with password protected access.
  • Staff sign a confidentiality statement when they join.

Control gaps

Access to the sickness spreadsheet is not limited to the people who need it.

Additional controls

  • Prevent: Limit health records to named roles and encrypt any portable device used to hold them.
  • Recover: Test restoring the records from backup each quarter and keep a written recovery plan.
Likelihood 3 x impact 4 before; 2 x 3 after Owner: IT manager Target: Within 45 days Early warning: Access to a restricted health file by a user outside the named roles.
H08

Loss of safety critical operations during disruption

Operational Before 20 After 9

A surge in sickness, loss of a key site, a severe weather event or a supplier stoppage removes the people and equipment needed for safe operation, and safety checks slip under pressure.

Who or what is affected: Workers covering gaps, service users and neighbours

Causes

Thin cover for key roles, dependence on one site and no tested plan for disruption.

Consequences

Unsafe shortcuts, missed statutory checks, service failure and reputational harm.

Existing controls

  • A call tree lists who to contact in an emergency.
  • Critical equipment checks are logged on a shared calendar.

Control gaps

The continuity plan has not been tested with the team who would have to use it.

Additional controls

  • Prevent: Cross train at least two people for each safety critical role.
  • Respond: Activate a reduced operating plan that keeps only the checks required for safe work.
  • Recover: Hold a recovery review within two weeks to update the plan.
Likelihood 5 x impact 4 before; 3 x 3 after Owner: Business continuity lead Target: Within 90 days Early warning: Safety critical checks missed in one week because cover is short.

Rating method and evaluation

Each hazard is rated on two five-point scales. Likelihood runs from Rare to Almost certain, and impact runs from Insignificant to Catastrophic, with scores of 1 to 5 on each. Multiplying the two gives a score from 1 to 25, which falls into one of four bands: Low from 1 to 4, Medium from 5 to 9, High from 10 to 16 and Critical from 17 to 25. Inherent risk is the rating before any controls, and it shows how exposed the work is by nature. Residual risk is the rating after the existing and added controls are working, and it must never be higher than the inherent rating. Where the inherent score is 10 or more, the residual score must be lower. Impact considers injury and illness severity, service loss, legal exposure, cost and trust, and a risk is never rated down only because it has not yet happened. Anything still High needs senior attention and a dated plan, anything Medium needs routine controls with a named owner, and anything Low is accepted and watched. Ratings are challenged by the people who do the work at safety meetings, by a second reviewer who was not involved in scoring, and whenever a monitoring indicator reaches its escalation threshold. Scores guide the order of work and are not precise measurements.

Likelihood, impact and rating bands

Likelihood

  • 5 Almost certain: Expected to happen in most circumstances.
  • 4 Likely: Will probably happen in many circumstances.
  • 3 Possible: Could happen at some time.
  • 2 Unlikely: Not expected, but it could happen.
  • 1 Rare: Only in exceptional circumstances.

Impact

  • 1 Insignificant: No lasting effect. Handled within routine work.
  • 2 Minor: Small effect that is quickly corrected.
  • 3 Moderate: Noticeable effect that needs managed effort to correct.
  • 4 Major: Serious effect on people, delivery or reputation.
  • 5 Catastrophic: Severe or lasting effect that threatens the whole activity.

Bands (likelihood x impact)

  • Low (1 to 4): Accept and monitor.
  • Medium (5 to 9): Manage with routine controls.
  • High (10 to 16): Senior attention and a treatment plan.
  • Critical (17 to 25): Act first. Do not proceed until reduced.

Monitoring, escalation and review

Review this assessment every 6 months, and sooner when an indicator below reaches its threshold.

Early-warning indicators and escalation thresholds
Indicator to watchEscalate when
Lifting, strain and near miss reports in the same work area each month.Escalate to the operations manager when two or more occur in one area within a month, and to the health and safety lead for a task review within 10 days.
Chemical data sheets missing or out of date on a routine walk round.Escalate to the health and safety lead at once, and withdraw the product from use until a current data sheet is on file.
Overtime above the agreed weekly limit for any team member.Escalate to the team supervisor when it occurs two weeks in a row, and to the people and learning lead if it continues for a month.
Expired or missing competence records for listed high risk tasks.Escalate to the people and learning lead at once, and stop that task for the person concerned until a current record is shown.
Safety critical checks missed in a week, or late supplier deliveries of critical items.Escalate to the business continuity lead within one day, and to the operations manager if the gap is not closed within three days.

Contingency arrangements

If a serious injury, exposure or major disruption happens, the supervisor makes the area safe, gives first aid and calls emergency services where needed. The health and safety lead stops related work, preserves the incident record and informs the operations manager at once. The business continuity lead activates the reduced operating plan and the call tree. Health records are protected and access is limited to the named roles. Reports to regulators and insurers are made through the health and safety lead as the relevant jurisdiction requires. Workers and clients receive clear, early and plain information.

Prioritized action plan

  1. Confirm named owners and review dates for all eight hazards, owner operations manager, within 30 days.
  2. Start a single incident and near miss log with a five working day review, owner health and safety lead, within 30 days.
  3. Link competence to listed high risk tasks and book practical sign offs, owner people and learning lead, within 60 days.
  4. Limit access to health records and test a restore from backup, owner IT manager, within 45 days.
  5. Test the continuity plan with one tabletop exercise and a second trained cover person for each critical role, owner business continuity lead, within 90 days.

Conclusion

Safe and resilient work depends on steady habits: named owners, a simple incident log, competence checked in practice, careful handling of health data, dependable suppliers and a continuity plan that has been tested. The highest scores sit with continuity, manual handling, chemical exposure, workload and competence, and each has actions that bring the residual score down. Treat the register as a living record, review it on the stated cycle and after any incident, and seek qualified occupational health and legal advice for any real site decision. This assessment is educational and does not replace a formal site-specific assessment.

Assumptions and limitations

Assumptions

  • The workplace is a small to mid-sized team with field, store and office tasks, and its sector and site are not named.
  • Jurisdiction is not specified, so legal duties are described in general terms and must be checked locally.
  • Staff are employees supported by a contracted occupational health adviser and a shared network with managed devices.

Limitations

  • The scores are examples for learning and do not describe any real workplace or enforcement record.
  • Health and safety rules differ by country and change over time, so specialist review is needed.
  • This is educational content and is not medical, legal or occupational health advice.

Related frameworks to study

  • Hierarchy of controls for eliminating or reducing hazards
  • Plan, do, check, act cycle for continual improvement
  • Bow tie analysis linking causes, controls and consequences
  • Risk register and treatment plan method

Professional Risk Assessment

China, India, United States, Indonesia, Pakistan, Nigeria, Brazil, Bangladesh, Russia, Japan, Mexico, Philippines, Vietnam, Egypt, Turkey, Germany, United Kingdom, France, Italy, Canada, South Korea, Australia, Spain.

For Learning Reference Only: This assessment demonstrates how risk assessment principles are applied in a practical setting, providing a useful reference for learning and understanding. Actual assessments may be adapted to suit specific site conditions and circumstances.

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