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City University of Hong Kong

Health and Safety Risk Assessment for
Workstations, Experiments and Research Projects



Objective

The objective of risk assessment is to perform a careful examination of what could
cause harm to people (hazards / risks). When properly performed, it helps ascertain
whether the effectiveness and adequacy of the precautions already in place, or
whether more has to be done. Staff and students should spend not less than ONE
HOUR to assess their new workstations, experiments or research projects critically
and fill in the form completely.

Risk assessment should also be performed :
for those existing workstations, experiments or research projects which have not
been assessed before;
as soon as change occurs;
after an incident; and
regularly for not less than once in a year.

Please submit the completed form to your supervisor or Principal Investigator for his /
her review, approval, recordkeeping and subsequent follow-up action and monitoring.


1. Workstation / Experiment / Project Information

Workstation / Experiment / Project Title :





Summary / abstract of workstation, experiment or project (in about 100 words) :










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Location : (e.g. room, building)

Please attach a A4 sketch of the layout of major equipment to be used for
assessment purpose.


2. Analysis of workstation / experiment / project and identification of potential
hazards

Break down the Workstation / Experiment / Project into sequences and input them
in the table below. In normal cases, 5 to 10 sequences are enough to fully
describe a workstation / experiment / project. Then by referring to the attached list
of potential hazards (Attachment A), identify as many as possible the potential
hazards that could be created for each of the sequences and write down the
corresponding hazard code for each sequence. If there is more than one hazard,
please separate the hazard codes by a , .



Sequence Description
Equipment
to be used
Hazard
code
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.


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3. Assessment of risk

Evaluate the level of risk for each of the above hazards using the formula below as
a guide :

Risk = hazard severity x likelihood of the hazard arising
(where severity and likelihood can be estimated and quantified by using the
Table 1 and Table 2 below respectively)

Table 1 : Description of Hazard Severity
Descriptor Description
Minor First aid treatment only, no lost work time
Moderate Casualty treatment
Major Serious bodily injury
Catastrophic Death, permanent disablement

Table 2 : Measures of Likelihood
Likelihood Scale Explanation
Rare
Could occur, but probably never will
Unlikely
Could occur, but rare
Likely
Could occur occasionally
Almost certain
Could occur often

Risk assessment of each of the hazard identified for each sequence in step 2
above
Sequence Hazard Code Hazard Severity
Likelihood of the
Hazard Arising
Risk
Ranking*
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.

* Risk Priority Chart
LIKELIHOOD
(How likely could it
happen?)
CONSEQUENCES (How severely could it hurt someone?)
Minor Moderate Major Catastrophic
Rare L M H H
Unlikely L M H E
Likely H H E E
Almost Certain H E E E

Legend

E = Extreme risk H = High risk M = Moderate risk L = Low risk

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4. Decision on control measures to eliminate and/or reduce the risk

The higher the risk, the tighter should be the control measures. The control
measures should be considered in the following order: -

1
st
: eliminating / substituting the hazard giving rise to the risk with a hazard
giving risk to a lesser risk, such as use of a safer machine, chemical; if not
then

2
nd
: isolating the risk by keeping the operator away from the hazard, such as
provision of fixed guard, fume cupboard; if not then

3
rd
: minimizing the risk by engineering means (redesign), such as provision of
lifting equipment to reduce manual handling; if not then

4
th
: applying administrative measures, such as limiting the exposure time; if not
then

5
th
: using adequate personal protective equipment.


List of control measures suggested by staff or student :

i.
ii.
iii.
iv.
v.
vi.
vii.
viii.
ix.


I hereby declare that the information provided above is to my best knowledge
true, correct and complete.


Staff / student who conducts the assessment :

(Name in print)
Signature : Date :
Endorsed by
Supervisor : Signature :
Date :


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For Evaluation by Supervisor / Principal Investigator



Reviewed by : Signature :
Overall risk level : Date :
Follow-up action :

(choose from Actions 1 to 5 below)


Action 1 : acceptable without review

Action 2 : acceptable when proper and clear operation procedure is developed
(please attach a clear and step-by-step control procedure, jointly
signed by supervisor/principal investigator and the staff / student
concerned.)

Action 3 : staff / student is requested to provide the following additional information
for review



Action 4 : the risk is probably high and the workstation / experiment / research project
will need to be audited in more detail on .

Action 5 : the risk is high and proper control measure(s) are required to be put in
place first. Workstation / Experiment / Project is suspended until further
notification.












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Attachment A


Checklist of Potential Hazards and the Corresponding Hazard Code


Hazard Code

* Bodily injury resulting from mechanical energy
Cut by rotating shaft, mandrel B1
Cut by rotating cutters, (machine tools) B2
Cut by reciprocating die and tools, B3
Cut by in-running nips of gear, bearing, etc, B4
Hurt by moving object (eg., robot arm) B5
* Biohazard (microorganisms, bacteria, viruses, handling of
laboratory animals, etc)
Bio1
* Chemical Hazard
flammables (such as acetone, methane, hydrogen) C1
toxic chemicals (such as chloroform, ammonia)
corrosives (such as hydrofluoric acid)
peroxide forming chemicals
chemicals of explosive nature
C2
C3
C4
C5
other dangerous substances (such as nanoparticles) C6
* Electric shock due to
contact with exposed live component E1
use of high power/voltage source E2
design of own power source E3
* Fire Hazard (due to use of flammables, open flame,
overloading, short circuiting, etc)
F1
* Fall of person from height F2
* Hit by falling object H1
* Noise at 85 dBA or above N1
* Pressure Hazard P1
* Radiation
- Non-ionizing radiation
ultraviolet R1
laser R2
very high radio frequency (>1G) R3
far infra-red (> 1um) R4
- Ionizing radiation
alpha particles R5
beta rays R6
gamma and X rays
machine producing ionizing radiation
R7
R8
* Bodily burnt due to
high temperatures (handling hot metal, high temperature
operations, casting, etc.)
cold temperatures (handling cryogenic fluids, working in
freezing conditions, etc.)
T1

T2

D:\OFFICE DATA\Year 2011\Tony\Safety\Health & Safety Risk Assessment for Workstations, Experiments & Research Projects_p.doc