Risk Assessment
On this page
- Simple Risk Assessment
- Full Risk Assessment
- Risk Criteria
- Risk Assessment Inspection Team
- Related Resources
Introduction
This refers to “Assess” in RACE. If MSD hazards cannot be eliminated and if a more detailed assessment needs to be done, then simple risk assessment might help organizations to identify hazards and assess the risk.
Simple risk assessment
Typically uses Screening or Observational tools. The following resources help you to identify MSD hazards and assess the risk:
- Use the Work Observation procedure to assess jobs or tasks, including participation of workers, task analysis, what to monitor, who to monitor, when to monitor and what data to collect.
- Use Root Cause Analysis to identify the root cause of the identified MSD hazard.
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If an MSD hazard cannot be eliminated, is not clearly identified or understood, or the root cause is unclear, move on to more in-depth MSD risk analysis.
YES: Go to Hazard elimination in Step 6.0 of the basic or comprehensive guideline.
NO: Go to monitoring Step 8.0 of the basic and comprehensive guideline.
Not Sure: Continue with Full Risk Assessment Process or ask for help.
Full risk assessment
Typically uses Observational or Comprehensive Assessment Methods. The following resources help you to identify MSD hazards and assess the risk:
- Use the Work Observation to assess jobs or tasks, including participation of workers, task analysis, what to monitor, who to monitor, when to monitor and what data to collect.
- Use Root Cause Analysis to identify the root cause of the identified MSD hazard.
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If an MSD hazard is not clearly identified or understood and a root cause cannot be determined after performing the in-depth MSD risk analysis, consider asking for help.
Can the MSD hazard be eliminated immediately?
YES: Go to Identification, evaluation and choice of controls in Step 5.0 of the basic or comprehensive guideline or the next step of RACE.
NO: Go to monitoring Step 8.0 of the basic or comprehensive guideline.
Not Sure: Ask for help.
Risk Criteria for MSD Risk Assessment
Estimates of risk are compared to the risk criteria (risk evaluation) to estimate risks to workers’ health and to help prioritize hazard reduction actions. Note that this language may or may not actually be used in many MSD risk assessment tools and is frequently implicit.
This page will describe in more detail:
- What Risk Criteria are
- Risk Evaluation
- Risk Criteria in Risk Assessment Methods
Risk Assessment and Inspection Team
Are you wondering who you should include on your inspection team?
Find out more about the criteria for selecting members of your inspection team on this page.
Resources
Assessment tools are categorized by type of assessment below: lifting, arm work/posture, push/pull/carry, and hand work. Other types of assessment include assessments for vibration, office, patient handling, mobile devices, and in-vehicle computing.
Lifting Assessment Tools
Arm Work/Posture Assessment Tools
Push/Pull/Carry Assessment Tools
Hand Work Assessment Tools
All Assessment Resources
See all assessment resources here.
Want to search the resource library?
Find all the available resources on the MSD prevention website, including posters, videos, and links to relevant websites.