Example risk assessment for a road haulage company

Important reminder

This example risk assessment shows the kind of approach a small business might take. Use it as a guide to think through some of the hazards in your business and the steps you need to take to control the risks. Please note that it is not a generic risk assessment that you can just put your company name on and adopt wholesale without any thought. This would not satisfy the law - and would not be effective in protecting people.

Every business is different - you need to think through the hazards and controls required in your business for yourself.

Setting the scene

This road haulage company is located on an industrial estate near the docks on the outskirts of a major city. It has a fleet of three 44-tonne, flat-bed, curtain-sided articulated lorries and two rigid flat-bed lorries. It does general haulage, locally, and UK trunking (long haul). The company does not carry goods covered by the Carriage of Dangerous Goods Regulations 2007.

The yard contains sufficient parking for the lorries and staff cars, and a separate area for a diesel tank. There is a small office with toilets and washing facilities attached.

Seven people work for the company - a manager/owner, five drivers and an administrator. If a driver is absent, the owner will normally cover for him. Agency drivers are occasionally used.

How was the risk assessment done?

The owner did the risk assessment for drivers at the company. He followed the guidance in Five steps to risk assessment. For the office-based staff at the company, the owner used the example risk assessment for office work at a manufacturing company.

To identify the hazards, the manager:
- looked at the haulage pages on HSE’s website and the pages for small businesses to learn where hazards can occur;
- walked around the premises, noting what might pose a risk and taking HSE’s guidance into consideration;
- talked to the safety representative and other members of staff to learn from their knowledge and experience, and to listen to their concerns and opinions about health and safety issues; and
- looked at the accident book, to understand what previous problems there have been.
The owner then wrote down who could be harmed by the hazards and how.
For each hazard, the owner wrote down what controls, if any, were in place to manage these hazards. He then compared these controls to the good practice guidance on the HSE website. Where he did not consider existing controls good enough, he wrote down what else needed to be done.
The owner discussed the findings with the safety representative and with staff. He set out when the actions that were needed would be done, and who would do them, and then implemented the findings, ticking off each action as it was completed. He put a copy of the risk assessment up in the mess room, and made it part of the induction process for new staff, including agency drivers.
The owner decided to review and update the risk assessment every year, or straightaway if major changes in the workplace happened.