Risk Assessing

General workplace risk assessment training for any sector, delivered at your workplace or remotely. Half a day or a full day. The HSE’s five-step process applied properly, so assessments hold up to scrutiny instead of sitting in a drawer.

Course Overview

A risk assessment filed in a drawer is not a risk assessment. It’s paperwork. The whole point is to understand what could cause harm in your workplace, decide whether you’ve done enough about it, and act if you haven’t. Done properly, it protects your people, demonstrates your legal compliance, and gives you something concrete to stand behind if something does go wrong. Done badly, or not done at all, it leaves you exposed in every direction.

Most organisations know they need risk assessments. Fewer have staff who genuinely understand how to carry them out well. The assessments get completed because they have to be, not because anyone is confident they’re right, and they don’t get reviewed or reflect what actually happens on the ground. This course gives staff the knowledge and practical confidence to carry out assessments that are actually useful: real, proportionate, working documents that reflect your workplace and hold up to scrutiny, applicable to any sector, from offices and warehouses to construction sites and schools.

The course is built around current UK legislation and HSE guidance, including duties under the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 and the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999.

Course Details

  • Duration: Half day or full day, depending on the depth required
  • Delivery: Face-to-face in-house, or remote via Zoom or Microsoft Teams
  • Certificate: CPD-Accredited Certificate of Achievement in Risk Assessing
  • Awarding organisations: CPD-Accredited
  • Validity: No fixed legal renewal period. Refresher recommended periodically or in line with organisational policy.
  • Group size: Maximum 15 learners per trainer

Who This Course Is For

This course is for anyone who carries out, contributes to, or ‘signs off’ risk assessments as part of their role, in any sector.

  • Managers and supervisors
  • Health and safety representatives
  • Team leaders
  • Business owners
  • HR and compliance staff
  • Anyone responsible for completing or reviewing risk assessments

It’s relevant across all sectors and workplace types. Whether your team works in an office, on a construction site, in a warehouse, or in a school, the legal duty to assess risk is the same. What changes is the nature of the hazards, and this course works with your environment rather than around it. If your organisation works specifically in health and social care, our Risk Assessing in Health and Social Care course is built around the people you support rather than general workplace hazards, and may be the better fit.

Why This Training Matters

Every employer in the UK has a legal duty to protect the health, safety, and welfare of their employees and anyone else affected by their work. Under the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974, organisations must take all reasonably practicable steps to reduce risk in the workplace. The Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999 go further, requiring employers to carry out suitable and sufficient risk assessments and, where five or more people are employed, to record the significant findings in writing.

The Health and Safety Executive sets out a clear five-step process: identify the hazards, decide who might be harmed and how, evaluate the risks and decide on precautions, record your findings, and review and update when needed. That process is what this course teaches staff to apply in practice.

When risk assessments are poor, outdated, or missing entirely, the consequences are real: workplace accidents and injuries that could have been prevented, unlimited fines and prosecution under health and safety legislation, civil claims from injured employees with records used as evidence, and improvement or prohibition notices from HSE inspectors. The HSE’s position is unambiguous. If the assessment wasn’t carried out properly, or wasn’t reviewed when things changed, that’s a failure of legal duty.

What Learners Will Be Able to Do

By the end of the course, learners will be able to:

  • Identify hazards across a range of workplace environments
  • Assess levels of risk accurately and proportionately
  • Apply the hierarchy of control to select appropriate measures
  • Implement and communicate control measures within their team
  • Record risk assessments clearly, accurately, and in a legally defensible format
  • Review and update assessments when circumstances change
  • Apply dynamic risk assessment in real-time situations
  • Distinguish between hazard and risk with confidence
  • Recognise common risk assessment mistakes and how to avoid them

What the Day Covers

All content reflects the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 and current HSE guidance throughout. Topics covered include:

  • What risk assessment is and why it matters
  • Legal framework: the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 and the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999
  • The HSE five-step risk assessment process
  • Identifying hazards: who might be harmed and how
  • Evaluating risk: likelihood, severity, and existing controls
  • The hierarchy of control
  • Recording findings clearly and correctly
  • Reviewing and updating assessments, including when and how often
  • Dynamic risk assessment: applying sound judgement when conditions change unpredictably
  • Practical workplace scenarios
  • Common mistakes and how to avoid them

Every course is also built around your workplace environment and site-specific hazards as standard.

How the Course Is Delivered

Training is delivered face-to-face at your workplace or chosen venue, or remotely via Zoom or Microsoft Teams. Sessions include real workplace examples of risk assessments done well and poorly, scenario-based learning grounded in genuine workplace situations, group discussion and practical problem-solving, and hands-on application of the risk assessment process.

Groups are capped at 15. Where it’s useful, we incorporate your workplace environment and site-specific hazards, your existing risk assessments for review and discussion, hazards specific to your industry or operations, and your organisational policies and procedures. That means by the time staff leave the room, they’re applying what they’ve learned to the risks that actually exist in their workplace, not starting from scratch.

Risk Assessing, or Risk Assessing in Health and Social Care?

Risk Assessing (this course): Covers the general workplace risk assessment process under the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 and the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999, applicable to any sector. Right for offices, construction, manufacturing, hospitality, education, and any organisation needing standard workplace risk assessment training.

Risk Assessing in Health and Social Care: Built specifically around the people you support rather than just workplace hazards. Covers person-centred risk, the Mental Capacity Act, the Care Act, and dynamic risk assessment in changing care situations. Right for care homes, domiciliary care providers, and supported living services. See our Risk Assessing in Health and Social Care course for that version.

Both courses cover the core principles of identifying, assessing, and managing risk. The difference is context: this course applies to hazards in any workplace; the care sector version is built entirely around supporting people.

Certification and Validity

On completion, learners receive a CPD-Accredited Certificate of Achievement in Risk Assessing.

There is no fixed legal renewal period, but refresher training is recommended to ensure knowledge stays current as workplaces change, assessments are reviewed and updated appropriately, and staff remain confident in their legal responsibilities.

Why Organisations Book With Prima Cura

Most training providers arrive with a course. We arrive with yours.

Before the day, we gather information about your workplace: your incident reporting forms, your internal procedures, and the specific hazards your team actually faces. On the day, your trainer works that into every scenario, every discussion, every practical exercise. If your staff work in a care home, they’re not practising on hypothetical office workers. If your team are lone workers, that context shapes how the session runs.

It means the training lands. Not because it was well-delivered in a generic sense, but because it was relevant to the people in the room and the situations they’ll actually encounter.

A few other things that matter to the organisations that book with us:

  • 98.9% learner satisfaction across all Prima Cura courses
  • All trainers hold Enhanced DBS certificates and maintain ongoing CPD
  • We advise honestly on the qualification level at the enquiry stage. If a different course is a better fit for your workforce, we’ll say so before you book, not after

We respond to all enquiries within one working day.

Where We Deliver

We deliver in-house training at your workplace or chosen venue across Manchester, Greater Manchester, and the wider North West. We also deliver nationally across England, including North England, South England, London, and Surrey.

All sessions are led by experienced Prima Cura Training instructors. Groups are capped at 15 per trainer to protect the quality of hands-on learning.

Our associate network means we can deliver across England. You can meet the team on our Associates page.

FAQs

What is a risk assessment, and why does it matter legally?

A risk assessment is a structured process used to identify hazards in your workplace, evaluate how likely those hazards are to cause harm and to whom, and decide what control measures are needed. Under the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999, carrying out suitable and sufficient risk assessments is a legal requirement for all employers. Organisations with five or more employees must also record the significant findings in writing. Failure to comply leaves employers exposed to enforcement action, unlimited fines, and civil liability.

Is risk assessment training a legal requirement?

There is no law that specifically mandates a formal risk assessment training course, but the law does require that anyone carrying out risk assessments is competent to do so. Competence means having the skills, knowledge, and experience to identify hazards, evaluate risk, and implement appropriate controls. This course builds exactly that, and provides a documented record that staff have received relevant training, which is valuable evidence in the event of an inspection or a claim.

What does “suitable and sufficient” actually mean?

The phrase comes directly from the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999. It means the assessment must properly identify the significant hazards, evaluate the real level of risk, include appropriate and proportionate control measures, and be relevant to the actual workplace and the people working in it. A generic template copied from the internet and filed without ever being read does not meet this standard. This course explains what does.

What happens if we don’t have adequate risk assessments in place?

HSE inspectors have the power to enter your premises, review your records, and issue improvement notices, prohibition notices, or prosecute under the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974. Fines are unlimited, and in serious cases, individuals as well as organisations can face prosecution. Beyond enforcement, inadequate risk assessments significantly weaken your position in any civil claim brought by an injured employee. The cost of getting this right is a half or full day of training. The cost of getting it wrong is considerably higher.

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Book or Enquire

Book your training or request a quote

Tell us your team size and your sector. We’ll come back with a quote, the right advice on qualification level, and a straight answer on whether this is the best course for your team.

We respond to all enquiries within one working day.

Our Commitment to Quality and Compliance

At Prima Cura Training, all courses reflect current UK guidance and best practice. All trainers are experienced professionals with relevant qualifications and ongoing CPD. Because many of the organisations we support work with vulnerable individuals, all trainers hold Enhanced DBS checks.

This course is reviewed against updates from the Health and Safety Executive and current UK legislation, including the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 and the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999.

You can read more on our Quality Assurance and Compliance page.

Reviewed by Stephanie Austin, Owner and Lead Trainer, Prima Cura Training | 25+ years in health and social care | 15+ years as a trainer | Last reviewed: June 2026 | Next review: June 2027

This page is for general guidance only and reflects current UK legislation and HSE guidance as of the date of review. It does not constitute legal advice. This course provides guidance on workplace risk assessment practice. It does not replace organisational responsibilities or legal requirements. Employers remain responsible for ensuring compliance with UK health and safety legislation, including the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 and the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999.

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