Step 3: Evaluate The Risk

5 Steps to Risk Assessment

1. Identify the hazards

2. Identify who might be harmed and how

3. Evaluate the risks

4. Record your findings and implement them

5. Review your risk assessment and update if necessary

Step 3: Evaluate the risk

During this stage, employers must consider how likely it is that each hazard could cause harm. Employers must decide for each remaining hazard whether the risk remains high, medium or low. Risk assessment formula will be used to guide on evaluating the risk.

Risk = Likelihood x Consequence

1. Likelihood is the Probability of occurrence of an impact that affects the environment

2. Consequence is the Environmental impact if an event occurs.

Some information from step 2 (Identify who might be harmed and how) are needed to evaluate the risk and draw assumptions on certain cases. The information are as follow:

Type of employee:

Cleaner contractors (3 cleaners & 1 supervisor). Victim; 83kg man

Type of work performed:

Cleaning the dome mirror in a team

The frequency the work is being performed:

Rarely; Once per year; Public holiday

Working hour(s):

2 hours

Worker’s condition:

Healthy, trained, did not wearing PPE

Factors that contribute to fall:

CASE 1

Where:

CAIS dome (ladder)

How:

One of the cleaner accidentally fall from the ladder (3m) and landed on the walking platform.

Why:

due to slippery on the ladder & did not use any PPE

Risk assessment:

Our group assume that this case can be likely to occur because it is expected to occur sometime. If a person falls from a height above two meters the possibility is that they will sustain serious injury. From our calculation on this case, we estimate that an 83 kg cleaner experience 2440 N of force impact when fall from 3m ladder which lead to major level of potential consequences.

According to Dr Cynthia Bir from University of Southern California, she estimates that force of 3300N has ¼ chance of cracking average person’s rib. Meanwhile, 4000N is able to break femur as the largest bone in human body. However, there are no specific numbers of forces to break the bone because how force is applied makes the different impact. As the conclusion for this case, we assume that the cleaner have very high risk to experience injuries or illness resulting in permanent impairment.

CASE 2

Where:

CAIS dome (walking platform)

How:

One of the cleaner accidentally stepped a box of cleaning tools due to bump with the other cleaner and one of them fall from walking platform to the floor (25m)

Why:

Due to the small area of walking platform, side wipe/bump with partner, slippery & did not use any PPE

Risk assessment:

Our group assume that this case can be likely to occur because it is expected to occur sometime. When working in a team, the possibility to bump with each other is most likely to happen. Moreover, the characteristic of walking platform is open side floors and floor openings which is very dangerous and have high risk to fall down.

There are two type of falling hazard may occur in this case; objects and human. When one of the cleaner accidentally stepped a box of cleaning tools due to bump with the other cleaner, the tools may be fall to the floor first and followed by the victim. If the victim hit the falling objects on the floor, it may give more serious injuries. From our calculation on this case, we estimate that an 83 kg cleaner experience 20335 N of force impact when fall from 25m walking platform which lead to severe level of potential consequences.

As the conclusion for this case, the cleaner have very high risk to experience fatality. We assume that he may sustain a depressed frontal fracture of the skull, break his femur bones, permanent impairment on his backbones and the most critical is death.