National Safe Work Month: Week 2 – Assessing Risks to Protect Your People
Week 2 of National Safe Work Month focuses on one of the most crucial steps in workplace safety, assessing risks. Identifying hazards is only the beginning; understanding how serious those hazards are, how likely they are to cause harm, and whether your controls are effective is what truly protects your team. A proactive risk assessment approach ensures your workplace is prepared, compliant, and safe.
Hazards are only the first part of the story. Once you’ve identified what could go wrong, the next step is to assess the risks. This is the focus of Week 2 of National Safe Work Month, and it’s where organisations often stumble.
A risk assessment helps you work out:
How serious the harm could be
How likely it is to occur
Whether current controls are effective
What actions you need to take, and how urgently
Practical Actions for This Week
Work out the severity of harm: Could the hazard cause minor injuries, long-term illness, or even fatalities?
Examine exposure: How often are workers exposed to the hazard, and for how long?
Look at interactions: Could hazards combine to create a new or bigger risk?
Use your data: Check past incident reports and industry trends to see how similar risks have played out.
Update your risk register: Document your findings clearly .
Why It Matters
A simple hazard can spiral into something major if not properly assessed. Think of a small chemical spill — left unaddressed, it could cause slips, health issues, or even trigger a chain of failures.
Don’t wait for hindsight. Risk assessments are your foresight.
Action this week: Pick one hazard from your register and run through a formal risk assessment. Talk it through with your team and capture the “what if” scenarios.
Don’t wait for an incident to reveal a gap in your safety systems. Strengthen your WHS risk management processes today. Book your free, no obligation 30-minute Safety Health Check and discover how Anzen Safety & Training can help your business assess risks, improve controls, and keep your people safe every day.
