The installer and the heavy battery
A firm fits a new battery unit in a server room. The unit weighs more than a grown man. One installer lifts it alone and hurts his back.
A short risk assessment before the job would have asked: who could be hurt, and how?
By the end of this lesson
Note
I can give four reasons for a risk assessment and an example of each.
Key words
| Word | What it means |
|---|---|
| HSE | the Health and Safety Executive, the UK body that sets out how to keep people safe at work |
| UPS | uninterruptible power supply: a battery unit that keeps equipment running in a power cut |
| Supply chain | the companies that make and deliver the parts and services you rely on |
| Asset value | how much something is worth to the organisation |
| Downtime | the time a system is not working |
| PESTLE | six headings for outside factors: political, economic, social, technological, legal, environmental |
The cells students fill in are left blank in this preview.
Starter
Have a go
Starter
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Four reasons to assess risk
A risk assessment helps to find risk and to lower it. It does this in four ways.
- It applies HSE guidelines so people stay safe.
- It looks at the project setting, for example with a PESTLE.
- It finds risks inside and outside the organisation, for example in the supply chain.
- It puts a money value on the harm, so people can decide what to spend.
Each reason with an example
| Reason | Example | What you do |
|---|---|---|
| Apply HSE guidelines | Fit a new UPS in a server room | List the risks to the installers: heavy lifting, electric shock, a crowded room |
| Investigate the setting | A PESTLE for a cabling job | Look at law, cost, people, technology, and the building |
| Find internal and external risk | A supply chain assessment | Ask if suppliers can deliver on time and keep their own systems safe |
| Put a number on the harm | Loss from downtime | Work out what each hour without the system costs |
The cells students fill in are left blank in this preview.
Worked example: the cost of downtime
| Fact | Number |
|---|---|
| Staff who cannot work when the server is off | 40 |
| Cost of lost work each hour | 200 pounds |
| Hours the server was off | 6 |
| Loss from downtime | 1200 pounds |
The cells students fill in are left blank in this preview.
Try it: the cost of downtime
cost_per_hour = 200
hours_off = 6
loss = cost_per_hour * hours_off
print("Loss from downtime:", loss, "pounds")
# Change hours_off to 10 and run it again.