Posted By brian mills Hi Guys. I am about to put together a procedure to cover Operatives and Managers when they have to work outside of the regular SSOW and Risk Assessments, this is to cover the staff when unusual events occur regarding members of the public! Dynamic risk Assessments are used by the Emergency services; when for example they access if it is better to undertake heavy manual Handling in a RTA or to wait for the cutting gear to arrive ETC. I was wondering what the view was here on the forum to this type of risk assessment and if any of you have a template for such a Risk Assessment? If you have templates please respond direct! Regards Brian

Posted By James M The template for a dynamic risk assessment is in your head. They are not documented, generally done ad hoc by drivers, emergency services etc etc.

Posted By alex mccreadie I think I would rather shake a member of the emergecy services hand and say thanks for saving my life. The alternative would be to have etched on my headstone ( Died whilst waiting for emergency services to complete paperwork) Dynamic risk assessments are as already stated carried out on the hoof with templates for survival in the head. Hopefully the HSE's chasing of the fire service will be stopped before it costs the tax payer more money. Remember their failed prosecution of the Police for not carrying out risk assessments for chasing burglars over roofs?

Posted By brian mills Hi Guys, Thanks for the responses and all the usual good practical advice, as opposed to the Emergency Services we are a fixed workplace that interfaces with a considerable amount of the driving public. For various reasons they leave their vehicles and wonder onto our workplace as this is now foreseeable and the HSE has been informed of the incidents, I feel that we should have some form of template in place that can be compiled ASAP when such an incident occurs. Many thanks to Steven for the excellent guidelines document that you sent me! Regards Brian

Posted By Ken Taylor We don't have clarification of the events to which you refer but, if these are frequent foreseeable events with known risks, shouldn't you have pre-planned preventive measures or responses to control the risks rather than expecting the 'dynamic' approach?

Posted By James Fleming Another point I should have made. As the emergency services have essentially developed “Dynamic” risk assessment, other employers are seeing the benefits that it could bring. However, if you ask most emergency personal they could write a risk assessment on 95% of the tasks they undertake. It’s the 5% of thinking on the hoof that’s the Dynamic part. The point…some people are jumping on the wagon of ‘we will dynamically risk assess this’…there’s no need to.

Posted By Wilf Archer Hi Brian It is vital to any Dynamic Risk Assessment Process that the individuals are COMPETENT in their duties and also that the company policies and procedures are suitable and sufficient in the management of FORESEEABLE Risks. The success of a dynamic risk assessment process lies with the safe person approach. Implementation is significantly improved if those charged with the management of a Dynamic Risk Assessment programme are thoroughly trained in the psychology of learning and motivation. The ‘Safe Person’ Concept Many industries are inherently dangerous places. People go there to earn a living and should be able to expect a safe place of work and to operate under safe condition whilst at work. Unfortunately it is not always possible to eliminate all the risks from the working environment. In other words after you are certain there is nothing left to do with regards implementing systems and procedural controls. Then and only then (in addition) is to direct your efforts into making the person (employee, visitors, members of the public, etc) safe. This approach is called the ‘safe person concept’. It must be clearly understood, that all leaders of what ever level, have the authority, as well as the duty, to take immediate action in the interest of safety. This is a fundamental part of the safe person concept. The safety of an individual or group is reliant to a large degree on the self discipline, knowledge skills and experience of themselves and each other person within the vicinity. The safe person concept therefore relies on a number of personal attributes together with the right support from working colleagues or supervisors allowing for flexibility of response in order to react to unforeseen or changing circumstances. In the end decisions will be made based on underpinning knowledge, skills and experience applied in precise circumstances faced at the time. The Dynamic Management Process Dynamic management process is the continuous assessment and control of risks in a rapidly changing environment. Each employee carries a degree of personal responsibility for their own and others well being. However, the overall responsibility for this lies within the managerial structure. Those with supervisory responsibilities must ensure that safe practices are followed and that, so far as is reasonably practicable, risks are eliminated or reduced to the minimum. It should not be forgotten that supervisors are also responsible, for their own safety. Pre-Planning.. Is vital to ensure that the ‘safe person’ is in the best possible position to tackle incidents and to assist with and undertake dynamic assessments. Leadership styles, group control, position of maximum usefulness etc, would form part of this pre-planning requirement as would work allocation, group size, ability, workplace equipment etc… the list is almost endless. It is also important at this stage of pre-planning to consider the resources available. Have the necessary emergency routines been implemented and practiced, are the workforce trained to recognise possible unsafe conditions and behaviours, etc. (the value of realistic training here cannot be understated) The dynamic assessment is the final link in a risk assessment process, it takes place within circumstances that are unforeseeable and / or are changing constantly (i.e. weather conditions, power cuts, etc). It is this final assessment which we rely upon to allow us to carry on our activities safely and to make carefully considered judgements. The dynamic approach is a continuous thought process. However I cannot emphasise strongly enough that Specific Risk Assessments and SSOWs are already part of the culture and they are Suitable and Sufficirnt for all Foreseeable Risks (no matter how remote). Hope this helps Wilf www.mindskills.co.uk

Posted By Mark Bishop Brian Fire Services have national guidance issued to them entitled "Dynamic Assessment of Risk at Operational incidents" (ISBN 0113412215). This provides a model for assessing dynamic risk. The Fire Service generally cannot provide a safe place of work at Incidents, so must rey on safe people and safe systems of work. The Fire Service must have in place a range of safe systems of work or Operational Procedures to meet the wide range of situations it will face. There is also a national document - a guide to operational risk assessment. This provides guidance on a range of differnet situations faced. If it does not have in place safe systems of work, it will be subject to enforcement action like any other industry. The dynamic element of dynamic risk assessment arises from a few situations The Incident Commander (Senior Officer in charge) being faced with a hazard or situation that the existing operational procedures do not cover. This is very rare indeed and when it happens, it soon gets risk assessed and a safe system of work put in place. The Incident Commander has to balance the risks to Firefighters against the benefits from committing personnel to the Incident (saving life, saving property and rendering humanitarian services). Like any risk assessment, the risks and benefits have to be proportional and justified. Incidents (Fires, Chemical Incidents, etc) are rapidly changing situations. There has to be en effective command and control system in place and effective communication of hazards. At many large incidents where the incident is divided into sectors to make it easier to manage, a formal record of hazards is maintained in the Command Unit, making the health and safety side of the incident easier to manage. Incidents can be tackled offensively (e.g. committing a BA crew to a building) or defensively (using a hydraulic platform as a water tower outside the building) and this will change as the dynamics of the incident change and new hazards become apparent (e.g. danger of collapsed structure). I hope this helps explain dynamic risk assessment from a fire servcie perspective. The national guidance above may help further. Mark Bishop