Specify Any Action Required Record the Risk Assessment Carry out the Actions Review the Risk Assessment
54 Remember to ask about the existence and application of a work permit
system and to check the scope and effectiveness of its application from a health protection viewpoint.
An assessment should be suitable and sufficient. Clearly, therefore, it should be conducted by a competent person and the type of individual that
constitutes such a person will vary from one workplace to another. In some cases the assistance of a fully qualified occupational hygienist will be
necessary because of the more complex nature of the risks being investigated.
A critical point to be appreciated is that the term assessment is not synonymous with the measurement or monitoring of occupational
exposures, but embraces wider considerations, such as the factors already referred to, as well as relevant inquiry about, and keen observation of, the
jobstasks under scrutiny. On the other hand, the findings from measurements of occupational
exposures to chemical, physical or biological agents in the workplace may form an important element of the overall assessment. In other cases such
monitoring is unnecessary or inappropriate.
Workplace Monitoring
It may be necessary to obtain some monitoring data, particularly regarding exposure levels, as part of the overall assessment of health risks. Where
workplace monitoring is required, the aim is to assist in ensuring the health protection of employees and the sampling strategy adopted should be
appropriate to the basic reason for the type of survey to be conducted. The latter ranges from initial monitoring of a plant or operation, in order to establish
a baseline situation, to the periodic monitoring of a plant or operation in order to check, at regular intervals, that acceptable conditions are being maintained.