Posted By Ruth Clark My manager has been told by our Safety "Administrator" that, as he is responsible for the management of a small warehouse facility, he will be responsible for undertaking manual handling risk assessments on the jobs & staff involved. The problem I have with this is that my manager has no risk assessment training whatsoever, not even a basic "how to do a risk assessment" course. Is he able to undertake this type of specialist assessment? To me he is not without some training, preferably a manual handling risk assessment training course so he knows what he is looking for. The Safety "Administrator" is NEBOSH qualified, but we have been told that they do not undertake risk assessments, that is the line managers job. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Posted By Paul Craythorne Ruth, Risk assessment is neither the sole domain of the safety professional nor the line manager. I agree that your line managers should take responsibility for health and safety and be accountable. However, they should be provided with the necessary underpinning knowledge and training to enable them to discharge their legal obligations effectively. If a risk assessment were to be carried out by someone who has not had any training or does not have the necessary knowledge then it is not likely to be suitable and sufficient and may be challenged legally. Competence is the key word and it may be difficult to prove competence without knowledge, skills, training and experience. Suggest you ask your safety people to support your line managers in their role rather than just pass the buck. Regards, Paul Craythorne