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Find and create assessments

All staff can view existing risk assessments and create new ones. Use the search box and filters to narrow the list by area, owner, approver, groups at risk, or status. The confirmation filter shows assessments you have confirmed or have been asked to confirm; the tick colour indicates the confirmation status. The list can also show archived or orphaned assessments. Orphaned assessments are owned or approved by staff who have left the school. Archived assessments are retained for reference without needing ongoing review and approval. Select one or more assessments to export them as PDFs. For example, filter by the Science area, select all results, and choose Print from the bulk actions menu. To create an assessment, select the plus icon and enter:
  • a short description of the activity;
  • an area, which defaults to the first area (usually General);
  • an optional location;
  • an owner, which defaults to you;
  • an optional approver;
  • the groups of people at risk; and
  • any additional information, such as a statutory requirement.
You can copy an existing assessment when creating a similar one, such as another local day trip.

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Add hazards and controls

Open an assessment from the list, then use New Hazard to add each hazard. Record:
  • the hazard, or what might happen;
  • the likelihood after controls are implemented;
  • the risk, or harm that could result; and
  • the severity of that harm.
Likelihood ranges from Very unlikely to Very likely, while severity ranges from Slight to Extreme. The system combines likelihood and severity to calculate a hazard level:
  • Very low — acceptable;
  • Low — tolerable;
  • Medium — reduce to low where possible;
  • High — lower the level before carrying out the activity; and
  • Very high — unacceptable.
The highest hazard level becomes the overall level for the assessment. Add all relevant control measures to each hazard. Drag hazards and controls to reorder them.

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Assign actions

Use the actions panel to assign follow-up work to any member of staff and set a due date. Assigned staff receive reminders as actions become due or overdue. Actions can be useful for tasks such as training new staff or reviewing a handbook.

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Approve and confirm

Owners, approvers, and managers can edit an assessment. Approvers and managers can approve or unapprove it from the menu in the top right. It is good practice for the approver to be different from the owner or author. Any change after approval marks the assessment as updated and requires review and re-approval. Assessments also need re-approval once they are more than a year old. Owners and approvers receive reminders when approval is needed. Once an assessment is approved and unchanged, staff can print it and select Confirm to record that they have read and understood it. The confirmation option is unavailable while an assessment is unapproved or awaiting re-approval. Staff who have confirmed, or who have been specifically asked to confirm, receive weekly reminders when confirmation or re-confirmation is due. Use the confirmations page to see confirmation status and add staff individually or in bulk. The history page records updates to the assessment.