Hazard Identification and Risk Assessment SOP Template

1.Purpose

To identify hazards in a task or area, evaluate the risk they pose, and apply the right level of control before work begins, reducing the chance of injury or loss.

2.Scope

Applies to new tasks, new equipment, changed processes and periodic review of existing work activities across all departments.

Definitions

Hazard

Anything with the potential to cause harm, such as a chemical, a moving part, a working height or a repetitive motion.

Risk

The likelihood that a hazard will cause harm, combined with how severe that harm could be.

Hierarchy of controls

The preferred order of risk controls: eliminate, substitute, engineering controls, administrative controls, then personal protective equipment.

3.Responsibilities

Employee

Shares knowledge of the task's hazards, follows the controls put in place and reports new hazards found.

Supervisor

Requests assessments for new or changed tasks and confirms controls are implemented before work starts.

Safety Officer

Facilitates the risk assessment, documents findings and reviews assessments periodically.

Department Manager

Approves resources for controls and signs off on the completed assessment.

RACI matrix

R = Responsible, A = Accountable, C = Consulted, I = Informed

4.Materials and PPE

Materials, tools and systems

• →Risk assessment form or template
• →Risk matrix (likelihood and severity scale)
• →Task hazard analysis for the specific job
• →Incident and near-miss history for the area
• →Risk assessment register

5.Procedure

1. 5.1

   Define the task or area to assess

   Safety Officer

   Identify the specific task, process, equipment or area to be assessed, including who performs it and how often.

2. 5.2

   Walk the work area

   Safety Officer

   Observe the task being performed, or walk the area, looking for hazards related to equipment, materials, environment and how the work is actually done.

3. 5.3

   Consult the employees who do the work

   Employee

   Ask the employees who perform the task about hazards they encounter, including ones that may not be obvious from observation alone.

4. 5.4

   List identified hazards

   Safety Officer

   Record every hazard identified on the risk assessment form, describing the hazard and how someone could be harmed by it.

5. 5.5

   Evaluate likelihood and severity

   Safety Officer

   Rate each hazard's likelihood and potential severity using the risk matrix, and calculate the resulting risk level for prioritization.

   Checkpoint: Every listed hazard has a documented likelihood and severity rating before controls are selected.

6. 5.6

   Apply the hierarchy of controls

   Safety Officer

   For each hazard, identify controls starting with elimination or substitution, then engineering controls, then administrative controls, and personal protective equipment last.

7. 5.7

   Assign an owner and target date

   Supervisor

   Assign each control an owner responsible for implementing it and a realistic target date based on the risk level.

8. 5.8

   Document the completed assessment

   Safety Officer

   Record the hazards, ratings, controls, owners and target dates on the risk assessment form in full before work proceeds.

9. 5.9

   Communicate the assessment to employees

   Supervisor

   Brief the employees who perform the task on the identified hazards and required controls before they start work under the new or updated assessment.

10. 5.10

    Implement controls before work begins

    Supervisor

    Confirm controls rated as high risk are implemented before work starts, and do not allow work to proceed on unresolved high-risk hazards.

    Warning: Do not allow work to start if a high-risk hazard's control has not yet been implemented.

11. 5.11

    Monitor control effectiveness

    Safety Officer

    Check periodically that controls are being used as intended and are actually reducing the risk, adjusting them if they are not working.

12. 5.12

    Review and approve the assessment

    Department Manager

    Review the assessment on the SOP's review cycle, after an incident, or after a significant change to the task or area, and have the department manager sign off.

6.Quality checks

• →Every hazard listed has a documented likelihood and severity rating.
• →High-risk hazards have an implemented control before work begins.
• →Assessments are reviewed after any incident or significant process change.
• →Employees performing the task confirm they were briefed on the current assessment.

7.Records

• →Completed risk assessment forms
• →Risk assessment register
• →Control implementation tracking log

8.KPIs

• →Percentage of active tasks with a current risk assessment on file
• →Number of high-risk hazards with overdue controls
• →Time from hazard identification to control implementation

9.Common mistakes

• →Relying on PPE as the main control instead of trying to eliminate or engineer out the hazard first.
• →Writing vague hazard descriptions that do not describe how someone could be harmed.
• →Not consulting the employees who actually perform the task.
• →Letting a risk assessment go stale after equipment or the process changes.

10.Revision history