Wednesday, September 18, 2013

Risk Assessment for Health and Safety

By Morgan Green


Risk assessment is the thorough inspection of a facility with a fine-toothed comb, so to speak, to prevent a hazardous situation from developing. He or she must come up with different strategies within written assessment regulations to greatly reduce the potential for potential hazards as much as possible. Unfortunately, it is not possible for a risk assessor to eliminate all safety risks, but they can do their best to ensure that blatant hazardous conditions are corrected and are less likely to occur.

Competence Stages

In order for a risk assessor's work to be considered satisfactory he or she must become competent while doing their job. This involves being consistent, focused and able to pay close attention to even the most minor details during an inspection. Gaining competence usually comes in gradual stages. Dr. Abraham Maslow, a psychologist is thought by some to be the source for the four stages of competence development model that was established in the 1970s.

First Stage

Stage One- This stage is where the individual is unconsciously incompetent or has no knowledge of the routine of their job description and what it entails. Perhaps he or she may not even feel that learning certain skills are necessary or be aware of how each one ties together so that they can correctly execute the risk assessment job at hand.

Second Stage

Stage 2- The individual becomes consciously incompetent. He or she acknowledges that they don't possess the proper knowledge or skills required. This will motivate them to take necessary measures to learn the ins and outs of their field. The individual training to be a risk assessor will honestly analyse their strengths and weaknesses and make necessary improvements in the required skills they will need to use effectively.

Third Stage

Stage Three- This stage begins once the individual has completed their training course and is now consciously competent about their work duties. Concentrating on the importance of safety stimulates the individual to continue to gain further competence as a risk assessor the more they perform tasks.

Fourth Stage

Stage 4- Becoming unconsciously competent is when the individual has repeatedly performed risk assessments jobs to the point where it becomes automatic. They are consistent in the most minor details of risk assessment, and make very few or no mistakes at all while performing their job.

Learning

A professional risk assessor will always need to learn additional requirements to carry out their job duties efficiently. They should never think that they know everything there is to know about their job. When it comes to safety there can be no room for error! Continual education classes are regularly scheduled to help a professional risk assessor remain competent in their field. This is also known as continual professional development.

Risk Assessment

Performing a risk assessment involves an individual to be competent. The assessor must be able competent enough to handle any risks in relation to work activities in these types of circumstances. They should have enough expertise to collect all the relevant information on a job site and exercise their authority to make informative decisions about how to conduct a risk assessment safely.




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