As a business owner you take on particular responsibilities when you provide practical services to your clients. This can be as a Solopreneur, mobile or home based or as a site-based business, as a salon or clinic.

The law says that every employer must carry out a risk assessment, and if your business has five or more employees you must write this down. However whatever the size of your business you must consider your duty of care to your clients, and others, and yourself. Look I get H&S isn’t the latest glitter, serum or state of the art piece of equipment, so it can be put to the bottom of the pile of to think about. 

The pandemic has changed this to a degree, and apathy has set in but consider this; “If there was an incident or accident in your business, or that occurred as part of the service, would you be able to comprehensively demonstrate you had considered and done everything you could reasonably, and practically do to keep others as safe as possible? 

It is worth noting that as a Mobile Solo the home or venue you are providing the client services in becomes your workspace, so is just as important as a in a salon to consider your risk assessment. 

Nobody ever makes a clear, or even good decision when faced with a stressful situation, so give yourself peace of mind by documenting what you have done. With the rise in insurance claims being able to prove you have a robust safety culture in your business has never been so important. Part of the process of demonstrating due diligence is to methodically and fully risk assess your business. 

How do I risk assess? 

Risk assessment is a step by step 5 stage process. 

 
1. Identify the Hazards you face in your workplace, how you carry out your work, what equipment you use etc 

2. Decide who is at risk, and how they are at risk. 

3. Rate the risk – how likely is harm to take place, and how serious is the outcome of the harm? 

4. Record – recording your assessment findings on a risk assessment template is the clearest way to document your risks and hazards. How will you prevent and reduce the risk of harm happening? 

5. Review – once completed reflect and take a step back and consider the risk assessment process and outcomes. Have you covered everything? What have you learnt? What needs to change? What would make the process easier next time? When will you review your risk assessment? (A legal requirement to ensure your assessment remains up to date and current.) 

Example: 

Let’s take a common example, you use products within aerosol cannisters, like hairspray or you have deodorant in your bag or staff room, to refresh during the working day. First consideration is this is Flammable, it will say so on the product instructions. Pause for a moment to consider that product, what are the risks and hazards, what do you think? What do you know? What can you read/see? 

Did you consider storage? 

Storage instruction for this type of product tends to be on the cannister. Common sense will tell you the product is meant to be ‘stored in a cool, dry place.” That is standard training for all products. The control is obvious for stock on premises, pop it in a dark, dry cupboard in a kitchen area away from the boiler, or heat sources. But did you think about your work station? Is it in direct sunlight for any period of the day? Who may be harmed? Staff, yourself and ‘others’ being clients. 

Let’s go Geek

·The product (solid or more commonly liquid,) is not filled to the top of the cannister, the “propellent” gas sits in an “empty” space above the product. 
·The propellent (which is a gas) is what pushes the product out of the valve you press down to create the spray or foam. 
·To get this spray mist or foam effect the contents are placed under high pressure. 
· When you press the valve a mechanism in the design opens the delivery tube, and lowers the pressure at the top of the value delivery tube pushing the product out. 
· Add heat from your lovely sunny window, or hot box car boot and the can is heated up. The contents become heated, the result is the propellants particles speed up their movement, causing more pressure on the inside of the can. 
· Most pressurized cans design are created to endure higher pressures than average. 
· But if heated enough, like being left in direct sunlight on your work station over a period of time, and given enough heat, the pressure will be too great. 
· The result is the can will need to release its pressure, so it does this by ripping open the cannister and causing an explosion. 
· It is worth knowing it doesn’t even have to be a scorching day to achieve this effect, if could simply be prolonged heating in an insufficient cupboard that gets hot due to position.