Risk assessments - why they matter and yes you can do one!

The first time I conducted a risk assessment as a volunteer for a local faith building, I was  petrified. My day job may be the CEO of the Ethical Property Foundation (EPF) UK’s only dedicated property advice charity for the voluntary sector, but I am neither a property professional nor a lawyer. What if I made a mistake? 

I can now assure you that a risk assessment is simply an exercise in common sense and good observation. Anyone can do it. Indeed, one of our clients always takes a sensible 12-year-old along to help, because young people can spot risks, grown-ups might miss. 

I am now going to use a very old-fashioned word: stewardship. This means care of people, care of our building, and indeed, care of the planet. Unsurprisingly Our ‘How to do a Risk Assessment’ is now one of our most popular webinars and I present it with EPF’s expert property professionals.

Top tip? Always undertake a risk assessment in pairs to check and corroborate each other’s ‘findings. It is important not just to understand and spot the risks; you also need to think carefully how to mitigate them proportionately, bearing in mind given your organisation’s size, income, and resources. It is obviously impossible to eliminate all risk as we know from everyday life, but a good risk assessment assesses risks, records what they are, the mitigation measures taken, by whom and when. Dates matter in risk assessments.   

If your charity rents, then remember some risks are your landlord’s responsibility. Be clear what they are. Too often charity tenants are pushed into taking on managing risks which they should not.

A key point is that everyone should bear a shared responsibility for ensuring a safe environment. Staff and volunteers are treated the same in law for health and safety, and they must all be encouraged to report issues to the right people. Make them your organisation’s eyes and ears of your organisation, take their observations seriously and act on them. Case study:  children reported that some chairs in their community centre were held up only by two screws, not the requisite four. Nothing happened… until a chair collapsed and the person sitting on it broke their back, resulting in legal action.  

There are plenty of templates on the internet, plus lots of free advice on our website www.propertyhelp.org. Just make sure you cover areas of your premises: staff spaces and visitor-accessible areas—hallways, meeting rooms, toilets, and kitchen points. Identify hazards: spot anything on-site that could cause harm. Also check outside spaces: car parks, lighting, and pathways.

Record the time of day as well as the date on your risk assessment and review it after six months at a different time of day and different season. Risks may depend on geography. EG hanging baskets can present quite different risks in say, sheltered sunny Devon, from windy Sutherland. 

Finally, here are five verbs for your risk assessment vocabulary:  Draft, Record, Create, Consult and Update. This last one is crucial because environments change as people and their habits change, plus decay and deterioration can go undetected. I should perhaps add a sixth, because a risk assessment done well, can be a most  satisfying exercise for any charity you care for: Enjoy.