Risk Assessment

Introduction

Welcome, whether you are new to healthcare or completing your annual refresher

 

This course is written for TWO audiences:

  •  First-timers: Every concept is explained from scratch with plain language,

    real examples, and step-by-step guides.

  •  Annual refreshers: Yellow Refresher Reminder boxes highlight where practice

    drifts over time, updated guidance, and honest reflection questions.

 

Duration: approximately 1.5-2 hours   |   Pass mark: 70%

 

Read through each chapter as if your trainer is speaking directly to you.

Imagine you are starting your first shift on a busy hospital ward. There are wet floors, medication trolleys in corridors, a patient trying to climb out of bed, and a colleague rushing past carrying a tray. Every one of those situations carries risk. Risk assessment is simply the skill of spotting those hazards before they cause harm – and doing something about them.

This is not a complicated skill. You already do a version of it every day – you look both ways before crossing a road, you check that a pan handle is not sticking out over the edge of the cooker. In healthcare, we formalise that natural instinct into a structured process so that it is consistent, documented, and shared.

For those of you doing your annual refresher: you have been doing this a while. But research shows that experienced workers often become the most at risk – not because they are careless, but because familiarity breeds complacency. The purpose of this refresher is to sharpen your awareness again.

Annual Refresher Reminder

If you have been in your role more than a year, ask yourself honestly:

When did you last walk through your working area with fresh eyes and really look for hazards?

Have any new risks appeared – new equipment, new patients, short staffing, layout changes?

When did you last update a risk assessment that was overdue for review?

Aims and Objectives

This course will take approximately 1.5-2 hours. You need 70% to pass the final assessment.

By the end you will:

• Understand what a hazard and a risk are, and how they differ
• Know the key legislation that governs risk assessment in UK healthcare
• Be able to carry out the Five Steps of Risk Assessment
• Recognise the most common hazard categories in healthcare settings
• Know how to record, communicate, and review a risk assessment
• Feel confident about your individual responsibilities