Well I have no concept of POWRA.  I am guessing from context it stands for point of work risk assessment?  But what is it - a checklist completed by the engineer, or what?

Depends on where they are. In the UK the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations make risk assessment for work activities compulsory within the UK. Activities outside the UK rely on the local law. In many places outside the EU risk assessment is not a requirement or in some jurisdictions H&S law is not enforced which would explain why   “it is not uncommon for the actual work to be nothing like what was originally discussed with the client…” . If it is your staff going out then they could sue your company  in a UK court for civil damages but again local law applies for criminal matters.

POWRA sound a bit like dynamic risk assessments and the HSE does not like them because the on the hoof assessments are often not recorded or reviewed. The correct way to do a dynamic risk assessment is to check what you find on the day against the overarching risk assessment and if you find something novel,  feed that back into the big risk assessment.    

Hi Wizzer

Actually something happening in Ghana probably is quite a good example.

Whilst I have not looked at the health and safety legislation in Ghana it is quite probable that the legislation is evolving from some Factories Act enacted in colonial days towards something reminiscent of the requirements in HSWA - in particular the key words "reasonably practicable" are quite probably in there somewhere.

Given that Ghana is sometimes cited as one of the success stories of post colonial Africa, my guess is that its health and safety legislation may have evolved further, so as to be closer to the current UK model than some former British colonies.

So the key point here is that any risk assessment in the UK has to be "suitable and sufficient" and only the Courts can determine what does and does not meet that standard based on the specific circumstances at the time.

But even if there isn't a local equivalent EXPLICIT requirement to do a risk assessment, if there is a duty to do what is "reasonably practicable" it is IMPLICIT that a risk assessment needs to be done. This is a recognition on the case law on what these two words mean. Edwards v National Coal Board 1949 or Marshall v Gotham 1954.

Hence it is quite common for an organisation to deploy generic, specific, and dynamic/Point of Work assessments depending on what is to be done.

There can be no hard and fast answer to your original question. It depends on so many variables.

I hope that a POWRA in Ghana does not result in the death or mistreatment of a shark! 

Thanks for your help on this. Has put my mind to rest. I can also confirm that no sharks were injured in the draining of the pool :)

The shark in the pool scenario is exactly what the dynamic risk assessment  process is for!

You turn up clutching your existing  risk assessment in your sweaty little hand and something unexpected turns up (not a shark in our case but a herd of llamas!) . What do you do? Well in our government department there was a process:

1. Does the existing risk assessment cover this scenario? If not then look at-
2. Is there any way that you can safely do the job by adding extra controls-you made need to consult with  managers at this point? If not give up (its really important that that the give up option is available)
3. If  you think can do some apply additional controls eg ask someone who knows what they are doping to remove the sharks llamas or whatever.
4. Is it safe now? If yes carry on, if not apply more controls or look at the give up option.
5. Note this down  and build it into the main risk assessment; it’s learning experience and if this happens again the organisation will be able to response quicker and more confidently in the future.

“if a shark in the pool, that one must be in aquarium size

I cannot imagine that scenario”

Not if your name is Emilio Largo!

Look that up in your database!

Thanks AK. Looks like a good spot in the sunny pool.

HSSnail - perhaps instead we Weil get a discourse on zoonoses, including CWD and biosecurity issues such as Phytophthoras.

Stay calmer if you want to harm a Llama, call a Llama Farmer

(From "Horrible Histories" TV show)