DYNAMIC RISK ASSESSMENT
(Based upon the fire service guidance relating to the management
Of risk at operational incidents and issued by the Home Office, the
Scottish Office and the Northern Ireland Office. Available from
The Stationery Office or Stationery Office Bookshops priced £4.95.)
The dynamic management of risk is the continuous process of identifying hazards, assessing risks, taking action to eliminate or reduce risk, monitoring and reviewing, in the rapidly changing circumstances of an operational incident.
Although prepared specifically for the fire service, the process could be extended to the other emergency services and also to activities in which traditional control over the workplace and workplace equipment is lacking, breakdown maintenance for example.
Dynamic risk management operates at the Strategic, Systematic and Dynamic Level and involves the concept of the safe person. In normal activities safety performance relies upon the safe person and safe place strategy, in dynamic incidents the safe place cannot be assured and therefore greater emphasis falls onto the need to ensure a safe person strategy is adhered to.
Safe places are achieved through design, engineering and physical controls, whereas safe person rely upon human factors. However, to say that greater emphasis is placed upon the safe person strategy in a dynamic incident does not merely place the emphasis upon the individuals concerned. The organisation has to ensure: The correct selection of individuals; The provision of adequate information, The provision of any necessary personal protective equipment; The supply of necessary equipment; The provision of safe systems of work to be followed; The provision of necessary instruction and training and effective levels of supervision.
Individuals needs to ensure: They are competent to perform the tasks assigned to them; They operate as an effective member of a team and are self-disciplined and capable of working within an accepted system of work; They are adaptable to changing circumstances, vigilant for the safety of themselves and others and able to recognise their own abilities and limitations.
The Dynamic risk assessment approach adopts the following structure:
The dynamic management of risk involves consideration of the following three stages of the incident:
INITIAL STAGE
DEVELOPMENT STAGE
CLOSING STAGE
On arrival at the incident the person in charge needs to gather information, evaluate the situation and apply professional judgement in determining the most appropriate course of action. This judgement will involve a weighing of the benefits of each course of action against the attendant risks. A wrong decision in the initial stages may have irreversible effects.
As the incident develops additional factors may arise which either require the original decision to be changed or, at least, modified. Decision making may become reactive as the incident develops rather than pro-active in the initial stages. Events may begin to drive decisions. The situation needs to be managed through constant monitoring and review of the effectiveness of the existing controls. In the development stages it is vital that communication systems remain effective, decision making does not become disordered and that the system of command remains firm.
During the closing stages it is important that complacency does not creep in. Information also needs to be gathered for a post-incident review and after the incident a debrief should take place. Following the incident there is a need to review, re-evaluate, refine and modify the existing information, personal protective equipment, systems of work, instruction, training and supervision provided to staff.
The following publications can also be obtained in relation to the dynamic risk management approach adopted by the fire service:
A Guide for Managers. Price £14.95.
A Guide for Senior Officers. Price £9.95.
A Guide to Operational Risk Assessment (Containing 32 Generic Risk Assessments).
Price £35.
All of the above guidance was prepared by a small team comprising of officials from the Scottish Office, Chief Officers Association, Home Office, HSE (National Industry Group) and the Fire Brigades Union.