Risk assessments are a really important part of any businesses’ safety policies and are a legal requirement for businesses operating within the UK.

A risk assessment identifies the risks associated with your business and the control measures required to reduce these risks to an acceptable level. Businesses of all sizes need to carry out health and safety risk assessments to ensure that they are doing everything they can reduce risks to an acceptable level. Businesses that employ more than 5 people are legally required to record this assessment.

Most businesses are aware of what they need to do and document the results accordingly, some businesses aren’t always 100% certain as to what they need to do and how to go about it. So whose best to carry the risk assessment out, from a time, money or legal perspective.

The risk assessment should follow the following 5 steps;
1.Identify any problems that may have the potential to cause harm, such as slippy floors, faulty or loose wires etc.
2.Ascertain whether any employees or person on the premises might be at risk from the potential risk identified in Step 1.
3.Access the degree of danger involved and how likely (and severe) any accidents might be.
4.Identify and assess whether there are already any existing controls in place relating to the potential risk.
5.Record the results of steps 1 -4 within a document or form.

Completing a risk assessment correctly needs time and focus, using an experienced consultant can have significant benefits; not least the fact that if you get it wrong, you may face serious consequences both legally and in terms of the health and safety of your employees, visitors and customers. Working with a highly reputable company like Shieldyourself and our team of experienced Environmental Health Practitioners, you will be supported and guided through the whole process; we will meet with you and visit your premises to ascertain the background to the assessment itself, before undertaking a full risk assessment for your business, upon your behalf.

Sales of norovirus-free oysters from a particular Shellfish Company have grown by a whopping 100%, since a Food Standards Agency study published in November 2011 revealed that three-quarters of all UK oysters carried the virus.

The study discovered that 76% of 8,000 oysters tested, from 39 harvesting areas in the UK had traces of the infectious norovirus, otherwise known as the winter vomiting bug. Currently up to 1 million people in the UK catch norovirus every year.

So if you or your clients enjoy eating raw oysters and you want to continue to offer them on your menu, then there are options available, but at a premium of roughly 60% vs. standard oysters.

Norovirus outbreaks tend to peak about this time of year and there have been several recent cases of the virus within Hospitals and Hotels. There was also a highly publicised severe outbreak of food poisoning in Heston Blumenthal’s Fat Duck in 2009.

To ensure compliance with food legislation, avoid interventions and food poisoning allegations, it is vital that there is an efficient Food Safety Management System in place, including your own tailored Food Safety Diary which outlines all your checks, controls and working practices.

Providing suitable accredited Food Safety training to managers and staff to ensure they operate good standards of food hygiene and personal hygiene whilst at work is also a key part, either by eLearning or workshop based training courses.

For more information, then please call a member of the team to discuss your needs and identify potential solutions for your business.

In simple terms; it enables you as a business to know where you are, in relation to safety compliance for your business, versus where you need and want to be.

The general definition of an audit is an evaluation of a person, organisation, system, process, enterprise, project or product. Health and safety and food safety audits are undertaken to identify any areas of non-compliance with current legislation and company policy, what action or actions are required and a justification why.

Food safety legislation requires food businesses to ensure that food prepared for consumption is safe to eat. It is also a legal requirement that all employers provide safe and healthy working conditions for their employees. A positioning audit will establish the level of compliance within your organisation and includes a review of the effectiveness of the current systems in place such as your Food Safety Management System, Health and Safety Management System, risk assessments, training and other procedures. It is also extremely useful when looking to establish training needs of management and staff, to ensure that employees observe health and safety and food safety practices within the workplace, at consistent levels across your business. It is also an effective way of monitoring the safety performance of the business as a whole and getting a real feel for what’s truly happening within the workplace, across multiple locations.

A positioning audit should be easy to understand, jargon free and written in plain English. It should be carried out by an experienced and qualified environmental health professional, who can truly evaluate the safety standards and procedures for your business, including your existing Health and Safety policy and your Food Safety Management System.

The audit should be scored and graded vs. the predetermined criteria as agreed before delivery of the Audit itself. Each non-conformance will receive a score, a further deduction will be applied if the non-conformance is likely to result in formal action by an enforcement body and a higher level deduction will be applied if the non-conformance is likely to result in imminent danger or potential prosecution.

Shieldyourself operate a Red, Amber, Green coding for audit action points. The audit report should include an executive summary of the general safety status of your business, detailing the nature of any deficiencies and what is needed to rectify the situation. If using a compliance solution, such as the Audit App within the Compliance Centre, your audit can be uploaded for review remotely with specific action points being delegated to relevant colleagues within your business.

Moving forward, audit action points can be reviewed and monitored, to ensure that they are being carried out correctly; you can even reinstate closed actions which haven’t been completed to your satisfaction. Having a robust Health and Safety Management System and a Food Safety Management System in place ensures that all your safety compliance needs are managed, ensuring the correct policies, procedures and systems are in place across your business, improving operational performance and saving time and money.