Weekly Blog - Risk Assessment

Weekly Blog- Risk Assessment

So in this week's edition of our weekly safety blog, we tackle the subject of Risk Assessments. The simplest way to describe a risk assessment is a way of documenting the process of identifying potential risks to do with any given task or operation as well as the creation of control measures that can be put in place to either reduce the likelihood of the risk occurring and/or reduce the severity of the outcome should that risk come to fruition. Any given risk is usually compared against a risk matrix and given one rating for the likelihood of the risk happening and one for the severity if the risk does happen and these are used to give it a risk rating. Control measures are then identified and the risk is reassessed after the control measures are put in place using the same matrix. 

So why is conducting Risk Assessments so important?

Risk Assessments form a vital part of any successful Safety Management System and allow early identification and rectification of any potential hazard to reduce the impact that it may have. It gives a documented approach to show the acknowledgement of risks as well as the measures that you are going to put in place to minimise this risk. As a business owner, you are also required to conduct risk assessments under UK Health and Safety law.

So how should you conduct your Risk Assessments?

One common way we see Risk Assessments done in the charter industry is to have one all-encompassing risk assessment for the entirety of the business/charter. At Sail Safer, we understand that although this is not wrong and is a perfectly okay method to conduct risk assessments if done properly, we prefer the approach of breaking down risk assessments into having one for each operation on board, for example having one for a general day charter, one for anchoring operations, one for berthing operations and one for bunkering fuel. By breaking risk assessing up into operation specific chunks, it allows us to be better focused on that one operation which may lead to more risks being highlighted and allow better specialisation of risk rather than leaving it more vague in an all-encompassing risk assessment. Another Sail Safer recommendation is to conduct Risk Assessments in groups. Make it a verbal exercise and encourage every member of the group to get involved. Even someone with little to no seagoing experience may have a way of seeing a risk that you hadn’t even contemplated as they have a fresh set of eyes. 

If you are interested in taking the plunge and using our services or want further information please contact us on info@sailsafer.co.uk or +447835598705