“Scientific” approach: Risk = Likelihood x Severity

Likelihood of occurrence

1. Highly unlikely ever to occur
2. Could occur but very rarely
3. Could occur rarely
4. Could occur from time to time
5. Likely to occur often

Severity of outcome

1. Slight inconvenience
2. Minor injury requiring first aid
3. Medical attention required
4. Major injury leading to hospitalisation
5. Fatality or serious injury leading to disability

• Cease the activity
• Substitute the activity for a less hazardous one
• Enclose the activity or segregate it from others
• Reduce the number of people exposed to the hazard
• Reduce the period of exposure
• Provide personal protective equipment

One of the existing controls or precautions will be the use of suitably qualified and experienced people for the job. This should be taken into account in the risk assessment but it is not sufficient on it’s own.

4. Record the findings

a. scratches and scrapes sustained during maintenance:
likely to occur often         = 5
slight inconvenience        = 1           
    = 5 no great concern  

b. climber injured by person falling on next route:
could occur from time to time     = 4
medical attention required         = 3
   = 12 ensure sensible route setting

c. climber dropped from the top of the wall:
could occur from time to time     = 4
fatality or serious disability         = 5
= 20 totally unacceptable, review procedures for checking competence.

Download Risk Assessment with Review Date

The law requires that you record the significant findings of the assessment and any employees identified as being especially at risk. It is advisable for everyone to do this irrespective of size.The management Regulations require this where there or 5 or more employees:

The following may wish to examine your risk assessment:

• Health and Safety inspector
• Customers and clients – eg: centres
• Fire officer
• Tourist Board etc.
• Quality Guild etc.
• Licensing Authority

5. Review
Review and revise the assessment when necessary, eg:

• The nature of the work changes eg: different activities taken on for the first time, eg: new operations introduced (eg: new courses being run or competitions), new wall installed.
• The nature of the risks change eg: new research shows increased or reduced risks.