Risk Assessment Policy
The Japanese School

Approved by:

The School Management Committee

Last reviewed on:June 2023

Next review due by:June 2024

Risk Assessment Policy202306 v1.3.1

Date: June 2023

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Version Number
1.1
1.2
1.3
1.3.1

Modified By
K. Nishihara
K. Nishihara
K. Okamoto
K. Okamoto

Risk Assessment Policy202306 v1.3.1

Modifications Made
Update format.
UpdateUpdate
Reviewed

Date Modified
17/12/2020
01/04/2021
09/05/2022
01/06/2023

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Risk Assessment Policy202306 v1.3.1

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RATIONALE
Risk assessment will be carried out in the Japanese School Limited to determine the risks associatedwith working operations. The assessment is required to identify risks both to employees, pupils andto any other persons who may be affected.
Risk Assessments are updated normally and the responsibility for administering the completion ofthese lies with the Health & Safety officer (Secretary).
C.O.S.H.H. regulations 1988 place a statutory duty on employees to assess the potential health risks
to employees arising from work involving the use of hazardous substances.
C.O.S.H.H. also requires that except in very limited circumstances a written record must bemaintained.
General assessments of risk are best carried out by staff in the curriculum areas concerned.
1.
1.1

RISK ASSESSMENT PROCEDURE
Introduction

It is a general legal requirement of the Management of Health & Safety at Work regulations (1999)
to carry out risk assessments. There are also specific requirements under other regulations to carryout specialised assessments, for example, manual handling, the use of chemicals, noise, machineryetc.
The following procedure should be adopted for general risk assessment of an area or a job/task. It isbased on the HSE guidance "Five Steps to Risk Assessment".
Risk assessment should be undertaken systematically to ensure that all significant hazards and risks
are identified and, where appropriate, controls are put in place to either eliminate the risk or reduce
it "as far as reasonably practicable".

1.2

What is a Risk Assessment?

A risk assessment is a careful examination of how people may be harmed from an activity orsituation. The assessment will help you to identify the likelihood of harm and whether you canreduce the risk to a reasonable level, through the introduction of control measures.
Hazard: A hazard is defined as something with the potential to cause harm.
Risk: A risk is the likelihood of potential harm from the hazard being realised. This is usually
evaluated by considering the likelihood of the harm occurring and the potential severity of the harm.

2. HAZARD & RISK
An examination of the place should be undertaken and should include identification of the following:・Hazards - identify anything in the workplace that could cause harm. Common workplace
hazards include:

CHEMICALS,DISPLAY SCREEN EQUIPMENT
DUST/FUMESELECTRICITYFIRE
MACHINERYMANUAL HANDLINGNOISEPOOR LIGHTING
Risk Assessment Policy202306 v1.3.1

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SLIPPING/TRIPPING HAZARDSVEHICLESWORKING AT HEIGHT AND ANY OTHER HAZARD
3. GENERIC RISK ASSESSMENTS

These generic risk assessments have been produced to assist school with risk assessment andprovide a basis for individual sites to consider their specific circumstances. Some assessments may
not be relevant to school, others may need customising to suit specific location and/or work activity
and others may not need changing at all.
The forms are only partially completed and will need to be adapted by senior administrators fromthe school, who can complete the rest of the form having considered the generic hazards, risks andcontrol measures listed on the form and add any site-specific items identified.
The assessments require the risk to be evaluated before and after the suggested controls are inplace. This will help identify the urgency of control measures and whether, following theintroduction of controls, the risk can be reduced sufficiently. The following matrix may help todetermine your risk rating.

3.1 Risk Matrix

Severity Slightly harmful(e.g. Superficial injury
or temporary
Likelihood
discomfort or distress)

Harmful(e.g. Sprains, minor
fractures, ill healthleading to disability)

Extremely harmful(e.g. major fractures,amputations, fatality,life shorteningillnesses)

Highly unlikely

LOW (L)

LOW (L)MEDIUM (M)Unlikely

LOW (L)MEDIUM (M)HIGH (H)

LikelyMEDIUM (M)HIGH (H)VERY HIGH (VH)

It is unlikely that all risks can be reduced to low levels. Table 1 will help you to determine action thatneeds to be taken.
Table 1:Risk Rating
Very High (VH)
High (H)
Medium (M)Low (L)

Action required
Initial risk rating
Residual risk rating
May only take place if good control Must not take place.
measures can be implemented.
You will need to identify further
controls to reduce the risk rating.
May only take place if good control Seek further advice
measures can be implemented.
If it is not possible to lower risk further, you will need to consider the risk
against the benefit.
No further action required.

Risk Assessment Policy202306 v1.3.1

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The completed generic assessments will need to be signed off by Deputy Headteacher completingthe assessment and monitored by the headteacher. They will then need to be reviewed and if
necessary updated, at least annually. A review will be required sooner if an incident or accident
occurs, or there are significant changes to the premises, staff or procedures.
4.

RECORDS

The assessment should be recorded on the standard Risk Assessment Form and should be kept in avisible/accessible folder identified for this purpose in the work area in question. The form also acts
as an improvement action plan and should be used for tracking implementation of control measures.
The findings should be made known to the staff it affects and information/training must be given.
4.1 Review
A risk assessment must be reviewed if there is any significant change to the area/ job/task or if there
is any other reason to suspect it is no longer valid. Risk assessments should be reviewed after
accidents/incidents involving the task assessed. In any event, it is good practice to review
assessments regularly to ensure they are still accurate, and controls remain in place.

Risk Assessment Policy202306 v1.3.16