Glass And Hard Plastic Risk Assessment Template for England and Wales

A Glass And Hard Plastic Risk Assessment is a critical workplace safety document that helps you identify, evaluate, and control the risks associated with handling glass and hard plastic materials in your workplace. This assessment is not just good practice—it's a legal requirement under England and Wales health and safety legislation that ensures your organization protects employees from potential injuries while maintaining regulatory compliance.

When do you need this document?

You must complete this risk assessment whenever your workplace involves glass or hard plastic materials. This includes manufacturing environments where glass products are produced, laboratories handling glass equipment, construction sites using glazing materials, retail environments with glass displays, and offices with glass partitions or furniture. The assessment is also required when introducing new processes involving these materials, purchasing new glass equipment, changing workplace layouts that affect glass handling, or following any incidents involving glass or hard plastic injuries. You should review and update the assessment annually or whenever significant changes occur in your workplace operations.

Key legal considerations

Your Glass And Hard Plastic Risk Assessment must demonstrate compliance with several critical legal requirements. The document should include comprehensive hazard identification covering all potential risks such as cuts from broken glass, eye injuries from flying particles, manual handling injuries from heavy glass panels, and slips from glass debris. You must evaluate each risk using a standardized scoring matrix that considers both likelihood and severity. The assessment should detail existing control measures and identify additional protective measures needed to reduce risks to acceptable levels. Personal protective equipment requirements must be clearly specified, including appropriate gloves, eye protection, and safety footwear. You're also required to document training needs for staff handling glass materials and establish clear procedures for safe storage, handling, and disposal of glass waste.

Legal requirements in England and Wales

Under the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974, employers have a statutory duty to ensure the health, safety, and welfare of employees, which includes conducting suitable risk assessments for glass and hard plastic hazards. The Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999 mandate that you must make suitable arrangements for effective planning, organization, control, monitoring, and review of preventive and protective measures. The Workplace (Health, Safety and Welfare) Regulations 1992 contain specific provisions for windows and transparent surfaces, requiring that glazing materials be of safety design or protected against breakage where necessary. The Personal Protective Equipment at Work Regulations 1992 require you to provide appropriate PPE where risks cannot be adequately controlled by other means. Additionally, the Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998 establish requirements for maintaining equipment safety standards. Your risk assessment must be documented, regularly reviewed, and made available to relevant authorities upon request, with findings communicated to all affected employees through appropriate training and instruction.