Identifying hazards
Walk through the dairy with a printout of the Record, checking off the points. It is important to involve your family and employees in the process. They will often see things differently or may experience a problem that you may not. Space is provided for additional hazards you may identify.
Assessing the risk
Once you have identified the hazards you will need to determine your priorities by determining the level of risk, the following chart may help you with this process. The degree of risk is determined by how frequently you are exposed to the hazard (daily, weekly, monthly or rarely) and the likely outcome or potential injury when you are exposed to the particular hazard.
| |
FREQUENCY |
| OUTCOME |
Daily |
Weekly |
Monthly |
Rarely |
| Fatality |
High |
High |
High |
Medium |
| Major injuries |
High |
High |
Medium |
Medium |
| Minor injuries |
High |
Medium |
Medium |
Low |
| Negligible injuries |
Medium |
Medium |
Low |
Low |
The Risk Assessment will help you identify those hazards requiring immediate action and set some priorities. Don't ignore the lower risk hazards, especially if they can be easily fixed.
Remember that hazards may be influenced by other factors, such as the environment (i.e. noise, dust, hot or cold), who is exposed to the hazard (adult, child, visitor, older person, new worker) and the circumstances under which the person exposed to the hazard may be operating (fatigue, stress or pressure).
Fixing the hazard
When deciding what action to take, take into account the priorities set for the risk assessment. The information in the Hazards in the dairy section of this website will help you decide what steps to take, as will the many links to additional information contained within each hazard sheet.
Each sheet will provide you with some immediate, short-term and long-term solutions, as well as guidance on legal requirements. The solutions are suggestions only; discussions with family members, employees, contractors, manufacturers, designers, technicians and others may provide other solutions for your farm.
Action Plan
The Action Plan contained in the inspection record will help you plan, record and monitor your actions.
Monitor and review your actions regularly to ensure they are working, update your solutions and ensure that the short-term solutions remain in place only while you are considering more effective and longer-term solutions
Be aware of new hazards, particularly when new equipment or new work practices are introduced. Ensure that they become part of your Action Plan.
Go back through the inspection at least annually. By undertaking this inspection and recording your actions, you are meeting your legislative requirements to have a risk management system in place.
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