Unit 4 Task 2 P3

Importance of a risk assessment
It is important to carry out a risk assessment in relation to everyday activities in health and social care, so the service user and all people surrounding the service user are safe and secure. A risk assessment identifies potential risks to the health, safety and security of staff, service users and visitors to a care setting. Care activities, equipment and the care setting itself can be hazardous, so carrying out a risk assessment recognises these hazards then steps can be taken to minimise or remove the level of risk to people. On a risk assessment you must make sure the date of the risk assessment is wrote on, the name of the assessor, the date of previous assessment, so you can check previous assessments if there is any. The date of the next assessment must be written on the risk assessment, so that another risk assessment can be carried out in case anything has changed. The location of assessment, activity to be assessed and address must be wrote on the risk assessment. Then you would look at the hazards and list them down. Then you would write down the risks involved to them hazards. Also you have to write down all the people at risk of harm, the severity which will be a number between 1 and 5, the likelihood of this happening which is also a number between 1 and 5, 1 being low and 5 being high risk. Then you would multiply the severity number with the likelihood number to get the risk rating which is between 1 and 25, 1 being a low risk and 25 being a high risk. Then you would write down the control measures you have put in place to the risks and any comments. Five stages of a risk assessment have been identified by the health and safety executive and they are: 1. Identify the risk. 2. Estimating the risk. 3. Controlling the risk. 4. Monitoring risk control measures. 5. Reassessing the risk.
In order to