Services for Communities / Date
9 December 2013
Unit/Section/Team
The Risk Factory / Location
20 New Mart Road, Edinburgh
Location of assessment
The Risk Factory
- Travelling to and from
- Meeting rooms
- Scenario area
- Break-out area / Type of Establishment
Residential Office Day Care
Workshop Mobile School
Other
Name of Employee:
Caroline Wilson / Job Title:
Risk Factory Officer
Describe briefly the work activity subject to risk assessment
A group visiting The Risk Factory (daytime) for the purpose of having a tour of the
scenario area lead by volunteer safety guides. Includes: coming from their drop off point
on the pavement/car park; briefing session; the tour of the scenario area; the debrief session
and leaving. Also the usage of tea/coffee facilities, by volunteers and group leaders.
1 LOOK FOR THE HAZARDS
List any hazards likely to affect health and safety:
1. Falls and Slips – Coming from the pavement up the inclined path or from the car park (Exterior).
2. Falling off chairs during briefing sessions.
3. Trips and Falls – On the stairs to the break-out area on the balcony.
4. Scalds / Burns from Kettle / Hot Water (Break-out Area on Balcony).
5. Anxiety / Hysteria caused by being trapped in the lift, in the event of a breakdown. (Lift).
6. Anxiety / Hysteria of service user by being scared (All areas of The Risk Factory).
7. Crush injury from doors closing on people / body parts i.e. fingers. (All areas of The Risk Factory).
8. Trips and Falls over / around the grassy area including the mats with the bottles and litter (Crime Scenario).
9. Trips and Falls over the pavements, pedestrian crossings, road works (Transport and Road Safety Scenario).
10. Trips and Falls over the items on the ground (Home Safety, Water and Building Site, Road Safety Scenarios).
11. Trips and Falls getting on and off the bus (Transport Scenario).
12. Trip and Falls from items on ground when resetting the skateboarder dummy (Building Site Scenario).
13. Trips and Falls by climbing on top of fake hay bales (Farm Scenario).
14. Trips and Falls by climbing through the vandalised fence (Electricity and Rail Scenarios).
15. Trips and Falls over items on ground that have been moved and require to be replaced (Fire Scenario).
16. Cuts / foreign body injury from broken glass if the Plasma Ball / Light bulb become broken (Electricity Scenario).
17. Being hit by falling dummy (Building Site Scenario).
18. Rope Burn from resetting the falling dummy (Building Site Scenario).
19. Feeling threatened caused by inappropriate behaviour.
20. Physical Injury caused by violent behaviour.
21. Unknown Medical Conditions.
2 DECIDE WHO MIGHT BE HARMED AND HOW
List groups of people at risk from the identified hazards:
1. Centre Staff (all of the hazards listed above, except 5 and 6)2. Volunteers (all of the hazards listed above, except 5 and 6)
3. The Visiting Group (all of the hazards listed above, except 4, 12 and 18)
4. The Visiting Group’s Leaders, Teachers, Adult Helpers (all of the hazards listed above except
12 and 18)
3 EVALUATE THE RISKS
List the precautions already being taken:
1. Exterior grounds are kept tidy, pathways gritted / salted in icy weather and kept clear of snow.
2. Visiting group are not allowed to swing on chairs during briefing sessions. Chairs are regularly checked for damage.
3. Interior stairwells and walkways are kept clear of obstacles and trip hazards, where these are not intentionally placed as parts of the Safety Scenarios, which are pointed out as such to service users.
4. The young female dummy that drops in the Building Site Scenario is secured with steel cable, and doesn’t come below head height.
5. Volunteers are instructed to hold the rope that resets the young female dummy in the Building Site firmly and to only release it once they are sure she is locked in place.
6. The access lift between the Reception area and the balcony is serviced regularly with a maintenance contract in place.
7. Groups are requested to stay off the “grass” during the scenario (Crime Scenario)
8. Visiting groups are not permitted to touch the light bulb in the Electricity Scenario, and only allowed brief contact with the Plasma Ball under direct supervision of the group leader.
9. Group leaders hold doors open for a group to pass through before closing it.
10. Groups are not allowed to climb under / on top of the fake hay bales (Farm Scenario)
11. Groups are not allowed to climb through the vandalised fences. (Electricity and Rail Scenarios). Volunteers may encourage one of the group to put head through in Rail to illustrate key messages.
12. Volunteers replace the “casualties” in the Fire Scenario, there is a second door that allows easier access for returning the wheelchair if it has been moved.
13. The street is fairly well lit where groups go on and off the pavement, and are instructed to only look at the roadwork’s and not touch, keeping a safe distance (Road Safety Scenario)
14. Group Leaders complete pre-visit paperwork ahead of their visit to identify medical conditions / additional needs / behavioural issues so that volunteers are aware of any issues and can act accordingly should something arise.
15. The pre-visit paperwork reminds groups that they are responsible for providing first aid for members of their group, and requested to identify their First Aider on arrival.
16. The Risk Factory has one qualified First Aider for issues arising with Centre Staff and Volunteers.
17. Volunteers and Group leaders are given a radio to request group leader and / or staff assistance in the event it is required. Some areas are covered by live-feed video cameras (Fire Safety Scenario).
18. Centre staff perform a periodic walk through whilst the scenarios are running to ensure everything is ok.
19. Teachers / Leaders / Adult Helpers are on hand to deal with abusive / threatening or violent behaviour
20. All volunteers undergo reference checks and are members of the Protecting Vulnerable Groups Scheme.
21. Where a Additional / Special Needs Group makes a booking it is centre policy to insist on a Pre-Visit and walk through of the scenario to ensure that everything is appropriate for the intended audience
Are the precautions adequate to reduce the risks to an acceptable level? (Yes or No ) / Yes
List the risks that are not being adequately controlled:
1. Groups do not always inform The Risk Factory of medical conditions or special needs that can affect the abilities of members of their group and how they interact in the scenario area.
List the further actions to be introduced to further reduce the risks
(Note: Also record who will be responsible for doing this and the planned completion date)
1. Procuring a wheelchair / accessible bus would further reduce the trip hazards in this area.
4 RECORD THE FINDINGS
In recording your findings in the above sections you will need to ensure that you have
· made a proper check
· spoken to all those who might be affected
· dealt with all the obvious significant hazards
· taken into account the number of people involved
and that the precautions are reasonable and the remaining risk is low
5 REVIEW AND REVISE
It is good practice to review risk assessments from time to time to make sure that the precautions are still working effectively and to revise the assessment if it becomes clear that it is no longer valid.
List here any actions taken or points raised in regard to the assessments:
The Risk Factory is not always informed of medical conditions, additional needs or behavioural issues of service users. Staff will follow up on any outstanding forms prior to group visit.
Overall Assessment of Risk: Low
Assessment completed by:
Name:Caroline Wilson / Signed:
Caroline Wilson
Job title:
Risk Factory Officer / Date:
9 December 2013