General Risk Assessment Services

A risk assessment is a structured process for identifying hazards in a workplace, working out who might be harmed and how, and deciding what measures need to be put in place to reduce or eliminate those risks. It gives employers a clear picture of what could go wrong and what has been done to prevent it, and it forms the foundation for safe systems of work, staff training, and ongoing safety management.

Yes. The Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999 require every employer to carry out a suitable and sufficient assessment of the risks to the health and safety of their employees and anyone else who may be affected by their work activities. Businesses with five or more employees must record the significant findings of their assessment, but the obligation to carry one out applies regardless of the size of the business.

A risk assessment should be reviewed whenever there is a significant change to the workplace, the work activities, the equipment in use, or the people carrying out the work. It should also be reviewed following any accident or near miss that suggests the existing controls are not working as intended. Even where nothing has changed, it is good practice to review assessments periodically to confirm they remain accurate and relevant rather than waiting for something to go wrong before looking at them again.

Employers with five or more employees are legally required to record the significant findings of their risk assessments in writing. Even where a business has fewer than five employees, keeping a written record is strongly advisable since it demonstrates that a proper assessment has been carried out and makes it far easier to review and update the assessment in the future. A written record is also essential if the business ever needs to demonstrate its approach to health and safety to an insurer, a client, or a regulatory inspector.

Failure to carry out adequate risk assessments is a breach of health and safety law that can result in enforcement action from the Health and Safety Executive or local authority, including improvement notices, prohibition notices, and in serious cases prosecution. Beyond regulatory consequences, a business that has not properly assessed its risks is also more likely to experience accidents that cause harm to workers or others, with the associated human, financial, and reputational costs that follow. Insurance claims following workplace incidents may also be more difficult to pursue where the business cannot demonstrate that proper risk management was in place.

UK law requires risk assessments to be carried out by a competent person, meaning someone with the knowledge, skills, and experience to identify hazards and evaluate risks in the specific context of the workplace being assessed. For straightforward, lower-risk workplaces this may be the business owner or a trained employee. For more complex or higher-risk environments, using an external consultant with recognised qualifications and relevant sector experience is the more reliable approach, since a consultant will bring independent expertise and familiarity with the legal standards that apply.

COSHH stands for the Control of Substances Hazardous to Health Regulations 2002, which require employers to assess the risks from exposure to hazardous substances in the workplace and put appropriate control measures in place. A COSHH assessment is a specific type of risk assessment focused on substances that could harm health through inhalation, skin contact, or ingestion, and it sits within the broader risk assessment framework rather than replacing it. Businesses that use, store, or produce hazardous substances as part of their work need to carry out COSHH assessments alongside their general risk assessments.

The level of detail required in a risk assessment should be proportionate to the nature and level of the risks involved. A simple, low-risk workplace such as a small office requires a much less detailed assessment than a construction site or a chemical manufacturing facility. The key test is whether the assessment is suitable and sufficient for the specific workplace and activities, meaning it identifies the real risks, evaluates them honestly, and records practical control measures that will actually make a difference. An overly brief assessment that misses significant hazards is as much of a problem as one that is so lengthy it becomes impractical to use.

A safe system of work is a documented procedure that sets out how a specific task should be carried out safely, taking into account the hazards and risks identified in the risk assessment for that activity. Where a risk assessment identifies that a task carries significant risk, putting a safe system of work in place is one of the most effective control measures available. The two documents work together: the risk assessment identifies what the risks are and the safe system of work describes how those risks will be managed in practice on a step-by-step basis.

Insurers increasingly take an active interest in how businesses manage their health and safety obligations, and a business that can demonstrate thorough, up-to-date risk assessments and effective control measures is generally viewed as a lower risk by underwriters. Some insurers will ask to see risk assessment documentation as part of the renewal process, particularly for businesses in higher-risk sectors, and gaps in documentation can affect the terms offered or the outcome of a claim following an incident. While risk assessments alone will not guarantee a reduction in premiums, they are part of the overall safety management picture that insurers use to assess risk.

HSQE Consultancy provides end-to-end support for businesses that need help with risk assessments, from an initial review of what is already in place through to producing new assessments and safe systems of work from scratch. Our consultants have NEBOSH and IOSH qualifications and experience across a wide range of sectors, which means the assessments we produce are practical, legally compliant, and written in a way that is genuinely useful to the people carrying out the work. We can also support businesses in building the internal knowledge and confidence to manage and update their own assessments going forward.

HSQE Consultancy combines over 35 years of combined experience across sectors including rail, construction, and power with a practical, hands-on approach that focuses on what actually makes workplaces safer rather than just producing documentation for its own sake. Our advisors work directly with businesses rather than applying a one-size-fits-all template, which means the assessments and systems of work we produce reflect the real conditions and activities in each specific workplace. We also support clients beyond the initial assessment, helping them understand their ongoing obligations and build the internal capability to manage risk effectively over the long term.