City University of Hong Kong
Health and Safety Risk Assessment for
Workstations, Experiments and Research Projects
Objective
The objective of risk assessment is to perform a careful examination of what could
cause harm to people (hazards / risks). When properly performed, it helps ascertain
whether the effectiveness and adequacy of the precautions already in place, or
whether more has to be done. Staff and students should spend not less than ONE
HOUR to assess their new workstations, experiments or research projects critically
and fill in the form completely.
Risk assessment should also be performed :
 for those existing workstations, experiments or research projects which have not
been assessed before;
 as soon as change occurs;
 after an incident; and
 regularly for not less than once in a year.
Please submit the completed form to your supervisor or Principal Investigator for his /
her review, approval, recordkeeping and subsequent follow-up action and monitoring.
1.
Workstation / Experiment / Project Information
Workstation / Experiment / Project Title :
Summary / abstract of workstation, experiment or project (in about 100 words) :
Page 1 of 6
Location :
(e.g. room, building)
Please attach a A4 sketch of the layout of major equipment to be used for
assessment purpose.
2.
Analysis of workstation / experiment / project and identification of potential
hazards
Break down the Workstation / Experiment / Project into sequences and input them
in the table below. In normal cases, 5 to 10 sequences are enough to fully
describe a workstation / experiment / project. Then by referring to the attached list
of potential hazards (Attachment A), identify as many as possible the potential
hazards that could be created for each of the sequences and write down the
corresponding hazard code for each sequence. If there is more than one hazard,
please separate the hazard codes by a “ , ”.
Sequence
Description
Equipment
to be used
Hazard
code
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
Page 2 of 6
3. Assessment of risk
Evaluate the level of risk for each of the above hazards using the formula below as
a guide :
Risk = hazard severity x likelihood of the hazard arising
(where severity and likelihood can be estimated and quantified by using the
Table 1 and Table 2 below respectively)
Table 1 : Description of Hazard Severity
Descriptor
Minor
Moderate
Major
Catastrophic
Description
First aid treatment only, no lost work time
Casualty treatment
Serious bodily injury
Death, permanent disablement
Table 2 : Measures of Likelihood
Likelihood Scale
Rare
Unlikely
Likely
Almost certain
Explanation
Could occur, but probably never will
Could occur, but rare
Could occur occasionally
Could occur often
Risk assessment of each of the hazard identified for each sequence in step 2
above
Sequence
Hazard Code
Hazard Severity
Likelihood of the
Hazard Arising
Risk
Ranking*
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
* Risk Priority Chart
LIKELIHOOD
(How likely could it
happen?)
Rare
Unlikely
Likely
Almost Certain
CONSEQUENCES (How severely could it hurt someone?)
Minor
Moderate
Major
Catastrophic
L
L
H
H
M
M
H
E
H
H
E
E
H
E
E
E
Legend
E = Extreme risk
H = High risk
M = Moderate risk
L = Low risk
Page 3 of 6
4.
Decision on control measures to eliminate and/or reduce the risk
The higher the risk, the tighter should be the control measures. The control
measures should be considered in the following order: 1st : eliminating / substituting the hazard giving rise to the risk with a hazard
giving risk to a lesser risk, such as use of a safer machine, chemical; if not
then
2nd : isolating the risk by keeping the operator away from the hazard, such as
provision of fixed guard, fume cupboard; if not then
3rd : minimizing the risk by engineering means (redesign), such as provision of
lifting equipment to reduce manual handling; if not then
4th : applying administrative measures, such as limiting the exposure time; if not
then
5th : using adequate personal protective equipment.
List of control measures suggested by staff or student :
i.
ii.
iii.
iv.
v.
vi.
vii.
viii.
ix.
I hereby declare that the information provided above is to my best knowledge
true, correct and complete.
Staff / student who conducts the assessment :
(Name in print)
Signature
:
Endorsed by
Supervisor :
Date
:
Signature :
Date
:
Page 4 of 6
For Evaluation by Supervisor / Principal Investigator
Reviewed by
:
Overall risk level :
Signature
:
Date
:
Follow-up action :
(choose from Actions 1 to 5 below)
Action 1 : acceptable without review
Action 2 : acceptable when proper and clear operation procedure is developed
(please attach a clear and step-by-step control procedure, jointly
signed by supervisor/principal investigator and the staff / student
concerned.)
Action 3 : staff / student is requested to provide the following additional information
for review
Action 4 : the risk is probably high and the workstation / experiment / research project
will need to be audited in more detail on
.
Action 5 : the risk is high and proper control measure(s) are required to be put in
place first. Workstation / Experiment / Project is suspended until further
notification.
Page 5 of 6
Attachment A
Checklist of Potential Hazards and the Corresponding Hazard Code
Hazard Code
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
Bodily injury resulting from mechanical energy

Cut by rotating shaft, mandrel

Cut by rotating cutters, (machine tools)

Cut by reciprocating die and tools,

Cut by in-running nips of gear, bearing, etc,

Hurt by moving object (eg., robot arm)
Biohazard (microorganisms, bacteria, viruses, handling of
laboratory animals, etc)
Chemical Hazard

flammables (such as acetone, methane, hydrogen)

toxic chemicals (such as chloroform, ammonia)

corrosives (such as hydrofluoric acid)

peroxide forming chemicals

chemicals of explosive nature

other dangerous substances (such as nanoparticles)
Electric shock due to

contact with exposed live component

use of high power/voltage source

design of own power source
Fire Hazard (due to use of flammables, open flame,
overloading, short circuiting, etc)
Fall of person from height
Hit by falling object
Noise at 85 dBA or above
Pressure Hazard
Radiation
- Non-ionizing radiation
 ultraviolet
 laser
 very high radio frequency (>1G)
 far infra-red (> 1um)
- Ionizing radiation
 alpha particles
 beta rays
 gamma and X rays
 machine producing ionizing radiation
Bodily burnt due to

high temperatures (handling hot metal, high temperature
operations, casting, etc.)

cold temperatures (handling cryogenic fluids, working in
freezing conditions, etc.)
B1
B2
B3
B4
B5
Bio1
C1
C2
C3
C4
C5
C6
E1
E2
E3
F1
F2
H1
N1
P1
R1
R2
R3
R4
R5
R6
R7
R8
T1
T2
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