1.5 Controlling Risks, Hazard Management & the 5-Step Risk Assessment
Key Takeaways
- Risk is quantified as Risk = Likelihood × Severity; the three primary reasons for assessing and managing risk are the moral duty of care, legal compliance, and the economic cost of accidents.
- The standard risk assessment process follows five steps: identify the hazards; decide who might be harmed and how; evaluate the risks and decide on precautions; record the findings and implement them; and review the assessment and update it as conditions change.
- People at risk include everyone who may be affected by the work—not only those carrying out the activity; lifting risk assessments must account for bystanders, contractors, and the public.
- Control measures follow a hierarchy: first try to eliminate the risk completely, then substitute, engineer, and administrate (safe systems of work), with personal protective equipment as the last line of defence.
- Safe systems of work (risk assessments, JSAs, lift plans) must be monitored and reviewed regularly, because a system that is merely effective is not necessarily having maximum effect.
Controlling Risks, Hazard Management & the 5-Step Risk Assessment
No lifting operation is free of risk. Suspended loads store gravitational energy, rigging concentrates forces, and people work within reach of both. The Foundation syllabus therefore treats controlling risks as a core competency: before any item of equipment is selected or any lift is planned, the hazards must be identified, the risks evaluated, and proportionate control measures put in place and kept effective.
1. Why Assess and Manage Risk?
There are three primary reasons for assessing and managing risk:
- Moral duty of care: No one expects to risk life, limb, or health as a consequence of going to work. Employers have a moral responsibility to provide appropriate working conditions.
- Legal duty: Health and safety legislation (Section 1.1: HASAWA Section 2, MHSWR Regulation 3) makes risk assessment a statutory obligation, with criminal sanctions for failure.
- Economic duty: Accidents destroy equipment, stop production, trigger investigation and enforcement costs, raise insurance premiums, and damage reputation.
Quantifying Risk
Risk is expressed as the product of two factors:
- Likelihood: the probability that harm occurs, given how the work is actually done (frequency of lifts, condition of equipment, competence of the crew).
- Severity: the magnitude of harm if it does occur (a dropped 20-tonne vessel vs. a dropped hand tool).
A low-likelihood event can still demand strong controls when severity is catastrophic—which is why infrequent heavy lifts receive the most rigorous planning.
2. The 5-Step Risk Assessment
Risk assessment—also called Job Safety Analysis (JSA) or Job/Task Safety Review—is a careful examination of what could cause harm to people, so that a decision can be made as to whether enough precautions are in place. Although detail varies between nations, the common approach features five steps:
| Step | Name | What Happens |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Identify the Hazards | Walk the workplace and task sequence; list all hazards, concentrating on the significant ones (suspended loads, sharp edges, power lines, unstable ground). |
| 2 | Decide Who Might Be Harmed and How | Identify every group at risk—operators, slingers, other trades, visitors, and the public—and how each could be hurt. |
| 3 | Evaluate the Risks and Decide on Precautions | Judge likelihood and severity; decide whether existing controls are adequate or more are required. |
| 4 | Record Your Findings and Implement Them | Record the significant findings (mandatory for employers with 5 or more employees under MHSWR Reg 3) and put the planned precautions into action. |
| 5 | Review the Assessment and Update as Necessary | Revisit the assessment when equipment, methods, products, or premises change, and at regular intervals suited to the level of risk. |
Critical exam point (Step 2): When considering people at risk, you must not include only those carrying out the task. A sling failure above a shared worksite endangers everyone below it—contractors, supervisors, delivery drivers, and passers-by.
3. The Hierarchy of Control Measures
The first priority for controlling any significant risk is to avoid or eliminate it completely. Where elimination is impossible, a hierarchy guides the choice of control measures, from most to least effective:
- Elimination: Remove the hazard entirely (e.g., pre-assemble modules at ground level so no suspended lift over people is needed).
- Substitution: Replace the hazard with a safer alternative (e.g., use a powered hoist instead of manual lifting; choose a roundsling instead of chain for a painted load).
- Engineering controls: Isolate people from the hazard (guards on crane drives, runway end stops, anti-collision systems, exclusion barriers).
- Administrative controls: Change the way people work (lift plans, permit-to-work, trained slinger/signallers, colour-coded inspection tags).
- Personal protective equipment (PPE): The last line of defence (helmets, safety footwear, gloves)—protects only the wearer and only if worn correctly.
This hierarchy mirrors the statutory Principles of Prevention in MHSWR Schedule 1 (Section 1.1), which additionally requires risks to be combated at source, collective protection to be given priority over individual protection, and appropriate instruction to be given to employees.
Typical Lifting Hazards and Their Controls
| Hazard | Typical Failure Mode | Preferred Controls |
|---|---|---|
| Dropped load | Overload, CoG misjudgment, damaged sling | Verify weight/CoG, inspect rigging, apply correct mode factors, never exceed WLL |
| Load swing / strike | Off-centre hook, wind, snatch loading | Hook above CoG, tag lines, smooth acceleration, exclusion zone |
| Crushing at nip points | Hands between sling and load | Pack sharp edges, use push sticks/hooks, keep hands clear |
| Structural collapse | Defective equipment, bad foundations | Thorough examinations, proof tests, verified ground bearing/outrigger mats |
| Contact with power lines | Crane or load touches overhead lines | Site survey, goal posts and barriers, maximum height limits, appointed person oversight |
| Environmental | Wind, temperature, chemical exposure | Derate for temperature/hazardous duties, stop-work wind limits, correct sling material |
4. Monitor and Review: Keeping Safe Systems Effective
A documented risk assessment is not self-sustaining. Safe systems of work must be regularly monitored to ensure they remain effective—and it is often the case that more can be done to reduce risk further, because a system that is effective is not necessarily having maximum effect.
- New or modified equipment, building alterations, new procedures, or staff-devised shortcuts all introduce fresh hazards and must trigger review (Step 5).
- All personnel working under a risk assessment must have received suitable and sufficient information, instruction, training, and supervision—and the same applies to the supervisors who monitor the system.
- In lifting, the risk assessment feeds directly into the Lift Plan required by LOLER Regulation 8 (Section 1.3): the plan's complexity must reflect the assessed risk of the lift.
How is risk quantified in the standard risk-management model used in the lifting industry?
Which sequence correctly orders the five steps of the risk assessment process?
Under the hierarchy of control measures, what should be attempted FIRST when controlling a significant lifting risk?