RI&E example: a worked risk assessment for a small or mid-sized company

The company in this example

Our fictional company has 35 employees and four parts: an office with eight people, a warehouse with six, a workshop with seven and a field team of fourteen technicians who work at customer sites. All numbers are invented to make the example work. Your organization will look different.

Scoping comes first. You record which locations, job roles and tasks fall under the RI&E, including work at customer sites and hired staff. What you do not scope, you do not inventory, and what you do not inventory, you do not control.

Which risks belong to which department?

You walk through the departments one by one, with a fixed question list and together with the people who work there. Each department gives its own picture. These are the main findings in the example:

• Office: long periods of screen work, work pressure and tripping over cables and temporary storage
• Warehouse: forklift trucks and pedestrians on the same routes, lifting and carrying, falling loads from racking
• Workshop: noise, welding fumes and dust, machines with insufficient guarding
• Field team: working at height with ladders, driving, lone working and aggression at customer sites

How do you assess a risk? The warehouse as an example

Take the risk of a collision in the warehouse. Pedestrians walk the same routes as the forklift trucks every day. With Kinney & Wiruth you assess three things: the likelihood that it goes wrong, how often people are exposed and how serious the outcome could be. Multiply the three scores and you get one number you can use to rank risks.

Here the likelihood is moderate, the exposure daily and the possible effect severe. That produces a high score and therefore the highest priority. You choose the scales and class boundaries yourself and record them, so the assessment can still be followed a year from now.

The scores side by side

You assess the other risks the same way, as likelihood × exposure × effect. A company might agree, for example, that a score above 200 calls for measures immediately, a score between 70 and 200 within a year and anything below through regular maintenance. The numbers below are illustrative: what matters is the ranking that emerges.

• Collision with a forklift truck: 3 × 6 × 15 = 270, high and tackled first
• Fall from a ladder at a customer site: 3 × 3 × 15 = 135, elevated
• Noise in the workshop: 6 × 3 × 7 = 126, elevated
• Screen work in the office: 3 × 6 × 3 = 54, manageable through regular maintenance

From risk to measure: the order in practice

For the forklift routes you work from the top down. Removing the hazard is not possible, because the trucks remain necessary. Technically, you separate the walkways with barriers and place mirrors at blind corners. Organizationally, you agree a maximum speed, designate zones without pedestrians and have drivers demonstrate their competence. A high-visibility vest is the last line of defence.

Then you assess the residual risk. With separated routes the likelihood drops to 1 and the score to 90. That is acceptable as long as the measures demonstrably work. So you check them at every inspection and after every near miss on this route.

The action plan for the example

An action plan is only useful if every line has an owner and an end date. A measure without a name attached tends to stay on the shelf. For the four risks in the example it could look like this:

• Separate and mark the walkways in the warehouse: warehouse manager, within three months
• Replace ladders with work platforms where possible and fit fall protection for the rest: head of field service, within six months
• Measure noise and record hearing protection per workstation: workshop manager, within two months
• Have screen workstations adjusted and give guidance: office manager, within three months

What else does a complete RI&E contain?

A good RI&E also records what is in order. For each topic, note how it is arranged and how you can demonstrate it, for example an inspection report on the racking or a photo of the guarding. Without evidence, being in order is a claim, not a finding.

Add the scope, the assessment method you used, the residual risks and the review. Whether an external review is needed depends on your situation: check this with the Netherlands Labour Authority (Nederlandse Arbeidsinspectie) or your industry association. In a VCA audit, the auditor will usually look at your RI&E as well. For high-risk tasks, such as ladder work at customer sites, you also prepare a task risk analysis (TRA).

Common mistakes when working from an example

An example is a starting point, not a copy, however well it seems to fit your company. Watch out for these pitfalls when you start working with it:

• Copying risks from another industry instead of walking your own workplaces
• Including only technical risks and forgetting work pressure or aggression
• Writing down measures without an owner or end date
• Not assessing the residual risk, so nobody knows whether a measure is enough
• Leaving the RI&E in a drawer after adoption instead of updating it when things change

How BrydgeOne supports this

In the Risk assessment & action plan module you carry out the RI&E digitally with templates, STOP measures and an action plan, and you share a review link with the expert. For each item you record how it is arranged and with what evidence. Measures flow automatically to Actions, with an owner and deadline.

In Risks & opportunities you record residual risk and acceptance with justification, and with the TRA module you assess a specific task before it is carried out.