Unit IG2: Risk assessment - Guidance and information for learners
Part 1
You should include the following information:
1. the name of the organisation;
2. site location (you don’t need to give the full address, just the general location eg, Rawalpindi,
Pakistan);
3. how many workers are employed by the organisation;
4. a general description* of the organisation, which must include information on products manufactured
and/or services provided, the types of activities undertaken and shift patterns worked;
5. a description of the area to be included in the risk assessment; and
6. any other relevant information eg, who has the day-to-day responsibility for health and safety in your
organization. If you feel there is nothing relevant here, you do not need to include this in the
description.
You will then need to outline how you carried out the risk assessment (methodology used). You will need
to include:
• the sources of information that you consulted;
• who you spoke to; and
• how you identified: - the hazards; - what is already being done; and - any additional
controls/actions that may be required.
You may also include anything else that is relevant to the completion of the risk assessment. Please note
that this section can be completed after you have completed your risk assessment.
Part 2
You must use the table in Part 2 of the assessment pack to complete the risk assessment.
You will now need to complete a risk assessment of your organisation. You must find and record at least
10 different hazards that are taken from at least 5 different hazard categories. For the avoidance of
doubt, hazard categories for this assessment are the topic headings for Elements 5 – 11 of the IG syllabus
as shown in Table 1:
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Unit IG2: Risk assessment - Guidance and information for learners
Your risk assessment must include details on:
the hazard and the hazard category (column 1)*;
who may be harmed and how (column 2);
what you are already doing to control the hazard (column 3)**;
what further controls or actions might be needed (column 4)** – remember you must take account of the
hierarchy of control and the prevention and control measures in ILO-OSH 2001, Section 3.10.1 in deciding
on further controls; Section 3.10.1 is as follows;
what the timescales are for completion of each action (column 5); and
the role of the person responsible for completing each action (column 6).
Important note: please ensure that ALL columns are completed with realistic information. If you have
nothing to include, for example under additional controls/actions, please put N/A or similar, do not leave
the column blank. The IG2 example on the NEBOSH website shows examples of where N/A (or similar)
must be used.
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Unit IG2: Risk assessment - Guidance and information for learners
*Column numbers – please see Table 2.
**When you complete your risk assessment you will see that columns 3 and 4 work together. If you are
already doing enough to control the risk, there will be a lot of controls listed in column 3 but very few (if
any) in column 4 (you might even just note that no further action is necessary). On the other-hand, if you
have very few controls in place, column 3 will contain very little and column 4 will contain a lot more. Both
of these scenarios are fine because they are realistic.
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Unit IG2: Risk assessment - Guidance and information for learners
Part 3
You must use the table in Part 3 of the assessment pack to priorities your actions and justify your selection.
Once you have completed the risk assessment, which includes allocating actions, you must pick what you
consider to be the 3 highest priority/most urgent actions needing attention. These actions can be
associated with the same or different hazards/hazard categories; the important thing is that they need to
be your highest priorities for action.
You must give a justification for why you think these are the highest priority/most urgent actions. Your
justification must include:
Moral, general legal and financial arguments for all actions. The legal arguments must cover
requirements that would apply to all workplace situations such as those under the ILO’s Occupational
Safety and Health Convention (C155).
Specific legal arguments, consideration of likelihood and severity and the action’s effectiveness in
controlling the risk for EACH action. Your legal arguments must be based on the International Labour
Organization’s (ILO) Conventions, Recommendations and Codes of Practice. You may also include country-
specific legislation but this will not be marked.
Please note that you are not expected to include detailed descriptions of the Articles in the
conventions. You just need to say what the duties are. For example, you could say that your employer
has a duty to ensure that equipment under their control is safe to use.
Consideration of the likelihood AND severity (taking account of current control measures) of injury, ill-
health or harm occurring. This must include consideration of the types of injury, ill-health or harm likely
to be seen, the number of workers at risk, how often the activity is carried out and how widespread the
risk is, eg, does the same threat exist in other parts/ branches/divisions/sites of the organisation?
Detail on how effective each of your chosen actions is likely to be in controlling the risk. Here you must
describe:
➢ the intended impact of each action;
➢ justification for the timescale that you indicate in your risk assessment for the action; and
➢ whether you think the action will fully control the risk.
Part 4
1. set a realistic review date for the risk assessment and say when you would review the risk assessment
and why;
2. indicate how the findings of the risk assessment are to be communicated (verbal or written and the
methods to be used, eg, email, noticeboards) and who needs to know the findings; and
3. indicate how you will follow up on the risk assessment to check that the actions have been carried
out.
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