Guidance on Preparing Risk Assessments

IWA's trustees have approved a Health and Safety Policy which aims to ensure that all reasonable and practicable safeguards are taken for the safety and welfare of everyone involved in our activities.

In order to show that the risks involved in conducting an activity have been considered, and the safeguards (or ‘control measures’) are in place, a system of risk assessment has been devised that will provide documentary evidence that risks have been considered and safety requirements have been met. Sight of risk assessments may be required by insurers in the event of a claim, and by an enforcing authority such as the Health and Safety Executive if they become involved at any time.

For activities such as waterway clean-ups, the owner of the land may require a written risk assessment to be provided before giving approval for the event to go ahead. The owner may also ask to see a method statement to describe how the work will be carried out. Method statements include the location, emergency and welfare information, as well as a description of the way the work will be carried out.

For each event, public meetings, a named individual should be appointed to be responsible for Health and Safety. It would be helpful to name the person in committee meeting minutes for the avoidance of doubt at a later date. The appointed person should complete a risk assessment having gained an understanding of the proposed activity and the methods to be used.  There is guidance for branch officers and others on the sort of risks that may need to be considered in the Guidance for IWA officers section.

IWA branches, waterway societies and others may already carry out risk assessments when planning events, but may not always write them down. In such cases it can be difficult to prove that the process has taken place. Unfortunately, saying “Oh yes, we did all that before the event” isn’t nearly as convincing as having the relevant piece of paper to hand over!

Conducting a risk assessment is not difficult or demanding. It is just a case of looking at the activity and identifying the hazards (anything that has the potential to do harm) associated with it. By gauging the likelihood that the hazard will do harm, and the severity of the harm caused, a risk rating can be calculated. If the risk rating is low, the activity can proceed; if it is medium more control measures might need to be considered, and if it is high more control measures are likely to be required to reduce the risk to an acceptable level.

For regular activities, such as monthly meetings, a completed risk assessment can remain valid from one occasion to the next unless there are any changes. Thus an assessment done at the start of the season can be used to cover meetings at that venue for (say) a year unless, for example, the venue is refurbished and a fire escape is moved. Remember that the organiser of an event has a responsibility for all persons who may be affected by the activity, such as passing members of the general public, so risks associated with these need to be included. It is not sufficient to say that the building is owned by somebody else, therefore safety is their responsibility.

Risk assessment templates are available from the Information & Systems Manager at IWA Head Office.

There is no need to send completed risk assessments to Head Office, or anywhere else, unless they are requested. It is, however, essential that everyone involved in the arrangements for each activity see a copy of the risk assessment, otherwise they may not be aware of the risks they need to guard against, and any actions expected of them.

Completed risk assessments should be retained for at least three years after the event. Electronic format is sufficient for retaining the documents; it is not necessary to store signed paper copies.