Posted By roakley I am new to health and safety work and have been asked to carry out a risk assessment on a corporate barbeque event to be held on the work site. I know that I have to list the hazards, and who is at risk. I am finding it difficult to estimate likelihoods and impacts of risks - how do you estimate the liklihood of a barbeque fuel gas bottle exploding for instance?, or the liklihood of contaminated food poisoning? It seems that these measurements are subjective depending on how optimistic / pessimistic you happen to be. Also, how do I know that I have thought of all the hazards - within reason, are there standard lists of hazards attached to various activities? Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Posted By tdunbar Many things here to consider. Condition of gas BBQ equipment. Suitable location and ground conditions. First Aid. Means of escape. Emergency lighting if during hours of darkness. Procedure for summoning emergency services. Food safety/hygiene. Issues with provision of alcohol. Car parking attendants. Sure there are a few more.

Posted By Bob Youel do not undertake the RA on your own - get others to share the ownership

Posted By www.hsepeople.com www.hsepeople.com is the first website of its kind. A Social Networking site aimed specifically at Health and Safety People in all industries world wide. In Health and Safety the sharing of Information, Lessons Learned and best practise is very important. [reference removed] brings everything safety together in one place and makes it very easy to communicate with other HSE Professionals, Agencies, Companies, Suppliers, Trainers and Consultants. Only 2 months old but with almost 1000 members and more joining every day, [reference removed] is a not for profit community site that aims to be a one stop shop for anyone working in HSE. On [reference removed] you can create a profile freely advertising your services and availability, Chat instantly with other members through the sites instant messenger or through the discussion forums. With hundreds of HSE jobs being listed from around the world on the RSS Feeds or from the many big agencies posting on the forums [reference removed] has more HSE Jobs than any other site on the Net. Create a blog and let other keep up to date with what you are doing. If it is of interest to the community post it to the site magazine. [reference removed] also gives members the ability to create and manage their own group specific to whatever topic they choose and many agencies are taking advantage of this feature to create jobs groups. If you are a HSE Trainer create an event and advertise course places. People can join your event and leave comments or ask questions. They can also view who else is attending your event and communicate with them. The business directory page is now live and we will constantly be adding to it. If you work, recruit, train or consult in Health and Safety then your business can benefit by being on display to hundreds of the [reference removed] who are likely to use your services. [reference removed] also allows members to upload safety videos and you can now download all the videos using the new Micro Feed option and watch them offline. Great for training purposes! In the very near future we will be launching the document library. This will give any member the ability to upload, search, browse and download Safety Presentations, Procedures, Lessons Learned, Risk Assessments, Checklists, Toolbox talks. In fact any document relating to safety. No longer will you need to re-invent the wheel every time a new challenge presents itself. The chances are some one before you will have done it and you will be able to find it on www.hsepeople.com The site is proving a huge hit and I hope to welcome you there soon www.hsepeople.com