Health & Safety Risk Assessments
CMIOSH Qualified Consultants - Detailed Written Reports - SHWW Act 2005 Compliant - Nationwide
Request a Health & Safety Risk Assessment
Our CMIOSH qualified consultants identify workplace hazards, evaluate risks, and deliver detailed reports with prioritised recommendations. Ensure compliance with the Safety, Health and Welfare at Work Act 2005.
Comprehensive Workplace Risk Assessments for Irish Businesses
Phoenix STS provides comprehensive health and safety risk assessments for workplaces across Ireland. Our CMIOSH qualified consultants identify hazards, evaluate risks, and provide prioritised recommendations to protect your employees and ensure compliance with the Safety, Health and Welfare at Work Act 2005. A risk assessment is a systematic examination of your workplace to identify hazards that could cause harm. We examine all work activities, equipment, substances, and working environments to provide detailed reports with clear, practical, and achievable recommendations.
Why Risk Assessments Are Essential
Understanding the importance of professional workplace risk assessments.
Legal Compliance
Risk assessments are a legal requirement under the SHWW Act 2005. Your safety statement must be based on risk assessment findings. Non-compliance can result in HSA enforcement action.
Employee Protection
Risk assessments identify hazards before they cause harm. Implementing control measures protects employees from injury and illness, creating a safer workplace.
Insurance Compliance
Insurers require evidence of proactive risk management. Professional risk assessments demonstrate you take health and safety seriously and support insurance applications.
Prioritise Safety Actions
Risk assessments help you focus resources where they matter most. By rating risks, you can prioritise actions and allocate budget to the highest priority improvements.
Safety Statement Foundation
Risk assessment findings form the basis of your safety statement as required by Section 20 of the SHWW Act 2005. Without risk assessment, your safety statement is incomplete.
Continuous Improvement
Regular risk assessment reviews ensure your workplace safety management evolves with changes in activities, equipment, legislation, and best practice.
Types of Workplace Risk Assessments
We conduct specialist risk assessments tailored to your workplace hazards and activities.
Comprehensive Workplace Assessment
Full workplace evaluation covering all work activities, areas, equipment, and substances. Identifies all significant hazards and forms the foundation for your safety statement.
Manual Handling Assessment
Assessment of lifting, carrying, pushing, and pulling tasks. Complies with the General Application Regulations 2007. Includes ergonomic evaluation and control measures.
Display Screen Equipment (DSE)
Computer workstation assessment covering ergonomic setup, user posture, equipment standards, and break arrangements in line with DSE regulations.
Chemical Risk Assessment (COSHH)
Hazardous substance identification, exposure route evaluation, control measures review, and safety data sheet analysis for all workplace chemicals.
Work Equipment Assessment
Machinery and equipment safety assessment covering guarding, safeguards, maintenance requirements, and operator competency under work equipment regulations.
Specific Task Assessment
Specialist assessments for working at height, confined spaces, lone working, hot works, and other high-risk activities requiring detailed evaluation.
Hazard Identification
We systematically examine your workplace to identify all hazards including physical, chemical, biological, ergonomic, and psychosocial hazards across all work activities and areas.
Risk Evaluation
We assess the likelihood and severity of harm for each hazard, evaluate existing control measures, and rate risks using a structured risk matrix methodology.
Report and Recommendations
We provide a detailed written report documenting all identified hazards, risk ratings, existing controls, and recommended improvements following the hierarchy of controls.
Action Planning
Prioritised recommendations with clear timescales, responsibilities, and practical guidance for implementation. Reports are designed to be immediately actionable.
Review and Update
Risk assessments are living documents. We recommend annual reviews and updates following significant changes, accidents, near misses, or new legislation.
Hazard Identification
We systematically examine your workplace to identify all hazards including physical, chemical, biological, ergonomic, and psychosocial hazards across all work activities and areas.
Risk Evaluation
We assess the likelihood and severity of harm for each hazard, evaluate existing control measures, and rate risks using a structured risk matrix methodology.
Report and Recommendations
We provide a detailed written report documenting all identified hazards, risk ratings, existing controls, and recommended improvements following the hierarchy of controls.
Action Planning
Prioritised recommendations with clear timescales, responsibilities, and practical guidance for implementation. Reports are designed to be immediately actionable.
Review and Update
Risk assessments are living documents. We recommend annual reviews and updates following significant changes, accidents, near misses, or new legislation.
Legislative Framework
Irish health and safety legislation requires employers to identify workplace hazards, assess the risks they present, and implement appropriate control measures to protect employees and others.
Safety, Health and Welfare at Work Act 2005
Requires employers to identify workplace hazards, assess risks, and implement control measures. Risk assessments must be in writing and form the basis of the safety statement under Section 20. Failure to conduct risk assessments can result in HSA enforcement action including improvement notices, prohibition notices, and prosecution. View on Irish Statute Book
General Application Regulations 2007
Sets out specific requirements for manual handling, display screen equipment, personal protective equipment, work at height, electricity, and other workplace hazards. These regulations detail the practical steps employers must take to manage specific risks identified through the risk assessment process. View on Irish Statute Book
Benefits
For Your Employees
- Workplace hazards identified and controlled before they cause harm
- Safer working environment with reduced risk of injury
- Clear understanding of hazards relevant to their work
- Input into the risk assessment process through consultation
- Appropriate training identified through the assessment
- Confidence that their safety is being actively managed
For Your Organisation
- Full compliance with the SHWW Act 2005 risk assessment requirements
- Foundation document for your safety statement under Section 20
- Evidence of proactive risk management for insurers
- Prioritised action plan to allocate resources effectively
- HSA inspection readiness with documented assessments
- Reduced accident rates and associated costs
Our Consultants
Our risk assessment consultants are Chartered Members of the Institution of Occupational Safety and Health (CMIOSH), with extensive experience conducting assessments across offices, manufacturing, hospitality, retail, healthcare, construction, and public sector workplaces.
Every risk assessment follows a structured methodology combining the hierarchy of controls with practical, achievable recommendations. All reports are covered by comprehensive professional indemnity insurance.
Nationwide Health & Safety Risk Assessments
Phoenix STS provides workplace risk assessments throughout Ireland. Based in Longford with nationwide coverage, our CMIOSH qualified consultants conduct thorough assessments across offices, manufacturing, hospitality, retail, construction, healthcare, and public sector workplaces in all 26 counties.
Risk assessments that match the work being done
A risk assessment is not a list of every possible misfortune. It should focus on hazards created by the work activity and the premises under the employer?s control. The Health and Safety Authority guidance on risk assessment and safety statements is clear that employers must examine workplace risks, decide what needs to be done about them and write the results into the safety statement. That is the practical test Phoenix STS applies: can the assessment explain what the risk is, who could be harmed, what controls are in place and what still needs to be improved?
Our assessments are written for people who have to manage the work after the consultant leaves. We avoid vague recommendations such as ?provide training? where the real issue is a missing safe system of work, unsuitable equipment, poor supervision or a layout problem. The aim is to identify controls that can be implemented and checked. That may include engineering controls, maintenance, signage, segregation, supervision, instruction, refresher training, personal protective equipment or a change in how the task is planned.
How the assessment is carried out
The process usually starts with a review of the work activities and any existing documents. We then inspect the relevant areas, speak with the people who understand the task, check existing controls and look at accident, near-miss or maintenance records where they are available. The assessment is then written in a format that can be used by managers and employees, not just filed away. Findings are prioritised, with urgent issues separated from routine actions and longer-term improvements.
For many clients, the most valuable part is the discussion of what is reasonably practicable. Irish health and safety law does not require employers to remove every theoretical risk, but it does require a careful, active approach to foreseeable hazards. The risk assessment should therefore be proportionate to the nature of the work. A low-risk office assessment may focus on display screen equipment, slips and trips, manual handling, first aid, welfare and emergency arrangements. A higher-risk operation may also need detailed assessments for machinery, chemicals, workplace transport, work at height, confined spaces, noise or contractor activity.
Keeping assessments current
Risk assessments need review when the work changes, after an incident, when new equipment or substances are introduced, when staff capability changes, or when there is reason to believe the assessment is no longer valid. We build those review triggers into the report so the assessment does not become a once-off exercise. Where the assessment identifies wider management issues, we cross-reference the actions into the safety statement and relevant health and safety policies so the same issue is not managed in three disconnected documents.
Phoenix STS can complete individual assessments for a specific task or a broader workplace risk assessment across a site. We can also review employer-prepared assessments and advise whether they are suitable, sufficient and understandable. The final report is designed to support decision-making, staff briefing, insurer queries and management review, while keeping the language clear enough for practical use.
Turning findings into management decisions
A useful risk assessment should help managers decide what to do next. Phoenix STS therefore writes findings in a way that distinguishes between immediate controls, procedural improvements and longer-term management issues. For example, a manual handling concern may require a change to storage height, a mechanical aid, task rotation, staff instruction and review of injury records. Listing ?manual handling training? on its own would miss the wider control picture.
We also make the connection between the assessment and other employer records. Where the assessment identifies a significant hazard, the finding should appear in the safety statement, the relevant policy, the training plan and any inspection or maintenance schedule. That makes the assessment easier to defend and easier to keep current. It also prevents managers from treating the assessment as a one-off exercise that is separate from the way the work is supervised.
Where clients already have internal assessments, Phoenix STS can review them for suitability and sufficiency. We look at whether the hazards are workplace-generated, whether the people at risk have been considered, whether controls are realistic, whether the residual risk is reasonable and whether the review date is meaningful. The result can be a revised assessment, a gap note or a practical action plan for managers.
Related Services
Explore our full range of health and safety and fire safety services.
Safety Statements
Section 20 compliant safety statement preparation based on risk assessment.
Onsite Training Courses
CPD-accredited on-site health and safety training delivered at your workplace.
Health & Safety Risk Assessment FAQs
Content last reviewed: March 2026.
Yes. The SHWW Act 2005 requires all employers to identify workplace hazards and assess risks. This applies to all business sizes, from sole traders to large corporations. Risk assessments must be in writing.
You can if you have sufficient knowledge, training, and experience. However, the General Application Regulations 2007 require access to competent health and safety advice. Many businesses benefit from professional assistance to ensure thoroughness and compliance.
A hazard is anything with the potential to cause harm, such as a wet floor, chemical, or machinery. Risk is the likelihood that someone will be harmed by the hazard combined with the severity of that harm. Risk assessment evaluates both factors.
At least annually as a minimum. Risk assessments should also be reviewed after significant changes to work activities, following accidents or near misses, when new equipment is introduced, or when legislation changes.
A risk matrix combines likelihood of harm with severity to produce a risk score. A typical 5x5 matrix produces scores from 1 (trivial risk) to 25 (extreme risk). This helps prioritise which hazards need the most urgent attention.
Yes. The SHWW Act 2005 requires the safety of not just employees but also contractors, visitors, and members of the public who may be affected by your work activities. Vulnerable groups must also be considered.
Failure to conduct risk assessments breaches the SHWW Act 2005. The HSA can issue improvement notices, and serious or repeated failures can result in prohibition notices, prosecution, and substantial fines. Insurers also typically require evidence of risk assessment.
Pricing depends on your business size, complexity, number of work activities, and the scope of assessment required. We provide competitive quotations tailored to your specific needs. Contact us for a no-obligation quote.
Yes. We provide full implementation support including policy development, arranging training, sourcing equipment and solutions, and ongoing competent person support to ensure recommendations are put into practice.
Our reports include an executive summary, detailed hazard identification, risk ratings using likelihood and severity, evaluation of existing control measures, prioritised recommendations following the hierarchy of controls, an action plan with timescales, photographic evidence where relevant, and legislative references.
Identify Hazards, Evaluate Risks, and Protect Your People
Professional risk assessments are the foundation of effective health and safety management. Contact us today for a no-obligation consultation.