Identify, Assess and Control Health and Safety Risks
ProQual Level 6 NVQ Diploma in Occupational Health and Safety Practice
The identification, assessment and control of health and safety risks are fundamental activities within every effective health and safety management system. Organisations must understand the hazards arising from their activities, evaluate the associated risks and implement suitable control measures to prevent injury, ill health, property damage and other losses.
This unit of the ProQual Level 6 NVQ Diploma in Occupational Health and Safety Practice focuses on developing the practical skills required to identify hazards, assess risks, determine priorities, implement appropriate control measures and maintain effective risk management arrangements within the workplace.
Learners completing this unit will demonstrate competence in hazard identification, risk assessment, risk evaluation, selection of risk control measures, implementation of Safe Systems of Work, consultation with relevant stakeholders and review of risk controls to ensure they remain effective.
Unlike traditional classroom-based qualifications, the ProQual Level 6 NVQ Diploma in Occupational Health and Safety Practice is a competency-based qualification assessed through workplace evidence. This means learners demonstrate their ability to apply health and safety knowledge in real workplace situations rather than sitting written examinations.
This unit is particularly relevant for:
Health and Safety Advisors
Health and Safety Officers
Health and Safety Managers
SHEQ Professionals
HSE Managers
Compliance Managers
Operations Managers with health and safety responsibilities
Individuals progressing towards Certified Membership of IOSH (CertIOSH)
By successfully completing this unit, learners will demonstrate their ability to identify workplace hazards, assess risks, implement proportionate control measures and support the continual improvement of risk management arrangements within their organisation.
What Does This Unit Mean?
This unit is about identifying hazards, assessing the risks arising from those hazards and implementing suitable risk control measures to prevent injury, ill health, damage and other losses.
Risk assessment is one of the most important activities within a health and safety management system because it helps organisations understand what could cause harm, who may be affected, how significant the risks are and what controls are needed to reduce those risks to an acceptable level.
In simple terms, this unit is asking:
“Can you identify hazards, assess the risks they create and ensure that suitable controls are implemented to protect people and comply with legal requirements?”
What Competence Does This Unit Require?
You are expected to demonstrate that you can:
Identify hazards through workplace inspections and observations.
Identify hazards associated with existing and proposed activities, equipment, processes and workplaces.
Select and use appropriate monitoring and measuring equipment where required.
Record hazards in sufficient detail.
Select appropriate risk assessment methods.
Assess risks to employees and others who may be affected.
Determine the level of exposure to hazards where necessary.
Prioritise risks according to their significance.
Critically review existing risk control measures.
Identify additional or improved risk controls where necessary.
Consider legal requirements, organisational requirements and industry best practice.
Identify resources required to implement controls.
Evaluate the cost-effectiveness of proposed controls.
Maintain records relating to hazards, risk assessments and risk controls.
The focus is not on completing a single risk assessment.
The focus is on demonstrating that a complete risk management process exists and is being used to identify hazards, assess risks and implement suitable controls.
Evidence Requirements: Unit 05
How are hazards identified?
Evidence Examples:
A workplace inspection, workplace observation, hazard report or risk assessment showing hazards that were identified.
Evidence showing that the hazards were recorded and reviewed.
How are health and safety risks assessed?
Evidence Examples:
A completed risk assessment showing how hazards were assessed and the level of risk determined.
Evidence of any measurements, monitoring results or assessment data used to support the assessment where applicable.
How are risks prioritised?
Evidence Examples:
A risk assessment, risk register or action plan showing how risks were ranked or prioritised.
Evidence showing that higher-risk issues were given priority for action.
How is it ensured that the organisation's risk controls meet compliance requirements?
Evidence Examples:
A risk assessment, safe system of work, procedure or control measure that references legal requirements, standards, guidance or recognised good practice.
Evidence showing that compliance requirements were considered when selecting or reviewing controls.
How are suitable risk controls identified?
Evidence Examples:
A risk assessment, inspection report, audit report or hazard report identifying existing controls and recommending additional or improved controls.
Evidence showing how the proposed controls were selected.
How are risk controls evaluated and planned?
Evidence Examples:
An action plan, project plan, business case, resource request or meeting minutes showing how proposed controls were evaluated and prioritised.
Evidence showing consideration of resources, costs, timescales or implementation priorities.
How are risk controls implemented?
Evidence Examples:
Evidence showing that controls were implemented, such as completed action plans, revised procedures, safe systems of work, engineering changes or workplace improvements.
Evidence showing that affected employees, managers or contractors were informed or trained where necessary.
How are hazard, risk assessment and risk control records maintained?
Evidence Examples:
Hazard reports, risk assessments, action plans or risk control records maintained by the organisation.
Evidence showing that records are reviewed, updated and retained, such as revision histories, review dates or document control arrangements.
How are risk controls reviewed?
Evidence Examples:
A reviewed risk assessment, inspection report, audit report, incident investigation or management review showing that existing controls were evaluated.
Evidence showing changes, improvements or further actions identified following the review.
How is it ensured that the risk assessment and risk control process is effective?
Evidence Examples:
An internal audit, management review, risk assessment review or health and safety performance review evaluating the effectiveness of risk assessment and risk control arrangements.
Evidence showing actions, recommendations or improvements resulting from the review.
Some of your evidence against one Assessment Criterion may also be used to meet the requirements in other assessment criteria (Where applicable).
Important Note for Learners
The competence requirements outlined above describe the practical workplace activities, systems, processes and records that may be used to demonstrate competence against this unit.
As this is a competency-based qualification, learners are expected to demonstrate that they can apply their health and safety knowledge and skills within their own workplace or working environment.
In addition to the competence-based assessment criteria, this unit also contains a number of knowledge-based assessment criteria. These are typically assessed through:
Written responses
Professional discussions with the assessor
Assessor questioning
In most cases, the knowledge-based assessment criteria relate directly to the same workplace activities, systems and processes described above. Learners will therefore often find that the workplace evidence gathered to demonstrate competence also helps them prepare for and satisfy the knowledge assessment requirements.