Risk assessment - general office duties - staff under 18

The Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999 require that young people are protected at work. Our sample risk assessment spells out how to do this in an office environment.

Arrangements

If you employ staff who are under 18, you should make special arrangements to ensure that their health, safety and welfare isn’t put at risk, even if your workplace is relatively low risk, i.e. an office. This is because younger staff are more likely to suffer an injury in the workplace than their more experienced colleagues. You should identify what’s required in a risk assessment.

What to do

Our Risk Assessment - General Office Duties - Staff Under 18 is an amended version of our document for all staff working in an office environment. It covers the activities a young worker may complete whilst working in an office - if young staff in your business carry out additional duties, you should add these to your risk assessment.

What’s covered?

The activities include: general office movements; manual handling; using display screen equipment; use of work equipment; lone working and visiting clients’ premises; workload; and emergency arrangements.

Rules

The risk control measures section differs from our version of an office risk assessment for more experienced staff. For example, a greater emphasis is put on supervision. For each activity, we suggest that, “Managers to supervise young members of staff to ensure that they’re following the instructions they have been given” .

Agreement

When introducing this risk assessment, or when new staff join your company, run through it with all young members of staff. Ensure that they understand the content and will adhere to it.