Risk Assessment Verification

Safety professionals at UQ include HSW Managers and Work Health and Safety Coordinators (WHSCs) and operate at the Organisational Unit level. WHSCs are required to review and audit a sample of risk assessments within their area of responsibility.

Where it is identified that improvements are required to risk assessments, consultation with the Risk Owner (worker/student) and Risk Approver (supervisor) is required. 

View the risk assessment by selecting the ‘View Risk’ icon.

Consider the following as you review the risk assessment

• Is the Risk Assessment still in use, or should it be archived? 
• Is the Risk Assessment name clear, and does it follow correct nomenclature?
• Are the basic details correct, including Location Category and Organisational Unit?
• Is there a clear description of the task/process/activity (this may be included as an attachment)? 
• Have relevant documents been referenced and attached? 
• Have all hazards and risk sources been identified and clearly described? 
• Have controls been adequately described and selected based on the hierarchy of controls? 
• Are current controls appropriate? Are additional proposed controls required?
• Has sufficient justification been provided to support the risk analysis outcome?
• Does the risk level appear to be acceptable? 
• For complex and/or high inherent risk tasks, has a subject matter expert provided input? 
• Are processes and controls in accordance with relevant policies, procedures and guidelines in the UQ PPL?
• Have relevant legislative requirements been considered? (Regulations, Code of Practice, Standards etc) 

If the review of the risk assessment identifies that improvements are required, the findings and recommendations for improvement must be communicated to the Risk Owner and Risk Approver in writing, via email. 

Once written feedback has been provided to both the Risk Owner and Risk Approver, the Risk Assessment can be verified by the HSW Manager/WHS Coordinator. 

If changes are required to the Risk Assessment, this is the responsibility of the Risk Owner and Risk Approver. The WHSC has a role in providing expert safety advice to support the development of quality risk assessments.

   Updating a risk assessment  

Risk assessments can be revised directly via the ‘Edit’ function, or via the ‘Formal Review’ function. The advantage of undertaking a ‘formal review’ is that notes can be attached during the process, and the Review Date is automatically updated. If a risk assessment is modified via the ‘edit’ function, the Review Date is not automatically updated. 

 Archiving a risk assessment

If the task has ceased, and/or the Risk Owner and Risk Approver have left UQ, the risk assessment can be archived.

 Business Administrator Management  

HSW Managers/WHSCs have the ability to update basic details within a risk assessment (eg Organisational Unit; Location Category, Risk Owner) without triggering the edit/approval workflow by using the BusAdmin functionality. The Risk Owner and Risk Approver should be advised of any changes made.   

 To monitor which Risk Assessments have been reviewed and audited, HSW Managers/WHSCs can apply a filter to the WHS Risk Register within UQSafe.