Conducting COVID-19 Risk Assessments in the Workplace

As organisations around the globe make urgent arrangements for their employees to return to work, writing suitable and sufficient risk assessments for the new risks facing their employees has become a priority.

WHS laws require employers to review their risk assessments whenever there is a significant change in risk exposure. Therefore, as the coronavirus pandemic lingers and the risk of infection remains, employers are required to identify, assess, and appropriately control COVID-19-related risks.

Many businesses may never have explicitly written a risk assessment, yet ultimately find themselves in a situation where it has never been more important to write one.

What is a Risk Assessment?

Risk Management is an overarching proactive process that helps your business respond to change and facilitate continuous improvement. It should be planned, systematic and cover all reasonably foreseeable hazards and associated risks.

More specifically, A Risk Assessment involves considering what could happen if someone is exposed to a hazard and the likelihood of it happening. A risk assessment helps determine:

• how severe a risk is
• whether any existing control measures are effective
• what action you should take to control the risk, and
• how urgently the action needs to be taken.

What is a COVID-19 Risk Assessment?

The risks associated with exposure to COVID-19 may not be the same for all businesses and will depend on a range of factors including the industry and nature of your work, your geographic location, business size, workforce demographics and characteristics etc.

Employers must consult with workers and any health and safety representatives when identifying risks and control measures for their workplace.

Key questions for employers (via SafeWork)

• What is the latest advice from the government and key industry and employee associations on control measures?
• What is the current advice from health authorities about the current situation and case numbers for COVID-19 cases in the local community/region?
• What are the current legal requirements (e.g. public health orders, health directions) for my area and how do they apply to my business?
• Does the nature of the work undertaken by my business increase the risk of my workers being exposed to COVID-19?
• Does my workplace have facilities for hand washing and/or hand sanitising?
• Does my workplace environment/set-up increase the risk of my workers and/or clients being exposed to COVID-19 and can this be changed?
• Do I have workers that fall within a vulnerable worker category?
• What are my current cleaning and disinfecting arrangements?
• How prepared is my business if there is a case of COVID-19 in the workplace?
• Is there an increased risk of violence in my workplace?
• What worker communication and support mechanisms are in place?
• Do the changes I plan to make to my business or changes arising from COVID-19 change the risk?
• Do I have a plan to review my control measures to ensure they are effective?
• See more