Posted By George Wedgwood Geoff, we were in the same boat with several practitioners in the Company looking at this. Whilst we could understand the ACoPs and had hazards that we knew applied, we were not sufficiently tehnically competent to address our first assessment, which had to consider several relevant hazards. It was possible to learn but time was not on our side so we agreed to farm out to a recognised consultant, our first general assessment so we can learn and at least have a working assessment that we can apply immediately. This is proving much more cost effective that going it alone - and it will be seen as applying the right level of competence. One firm that has this is Chilworth Technology at http://www.chilworth.co.uk/. We hope that we can now move ahead and manage our own assessments in future as the consultancy will be providing relevant training for us. Yes, it may be expensive at first, but at least you will sleep at night! Regards, George

Posted By Robert S Woods I've emailed you a copy of our assessment materials. Get in touch if you don't recieve them or you need advice in carrying out the assessment.

Posted By Tony Clark Hi Guys I am also going down the same avenue I would appreciate any help and info regards Tony

Posted By Chris Pope Geoff I have had to do a dsear r.a. for Holsworthy Biogas where all the biological nasties like fish waste, cow manure and the like are made into methane to drive CHPs (combined heat & power) units. As all the gas is contained, except in an emergency discharge, and all the zones etc had been worked out, I thought the r.a. a fairly straightforward document; after all a hazop and subsequent r.a. had been carried out. The Hazardous Installations inspector looked over my handiwork and told me it would not be acceptable unless it dealt systematically with the points a) to J) in regulation 5. He advised me to use them as headings, which I did. Like all risk assessment you have to ask questions of the experts and find out how to derive suitable conclusions, and sometimes this leads you to new experts or guidance e.g. risk of static. I'd like to recommend trying to do it yourself, maybe with someone competent to check it, as this will have the virtue of engaging the in house expertise.

Posted By Ben de la Rosa Don't know if I am following protocol here, it's my first time in. I am looking for some info on office risk assessment, can you help?