Gathering dust……..

Does your risk assessment just sit in a file?

In order for a management system of any kind to be effective, it has to be continuous. If pieces are missing, the process becomes disjointed and can fail.

Having a policy is the cornerstone of the system as it summarises and serves as a written commitment to quality and care. It shows willingness to have a system in place.

The first stage in developing an effective system is identifying risks and suggesting measures on how to reduce them. This is the easy part, as long as time, care and a realistic approach is taken. In order to assess risk, it is also necessary to have an understanding of legal requirements.
But if that plan then does nothing but sit in a file or on a hard drive, it is worthless. For the plan to work, there has to be a series of supporting documents that allow actions to be taken to put mitigation measures in place. This is the bread and butter of the system. And these documents need to be used, recorded, and reported. Having evidence of the system actually in use is crucial.

The next part of the system is frequently missed. This is making sure what you are actually doing is working, that there are no gaps and that continuous improvements are being made. This can by done by auditing what you have in place against what you *should* have in place.

Once gaps or problems have been identified, (eg a review of the accident book may show a trend in accidents), it is then crucial these findings are acted upon in order to reduce future risks. And to do this, your risk assessments will need updating, and the cycle starts again.
Need help finding the gaps? Get in touch.

#riskmanagement #effective #policiesandprocedures #continuousimprovement