If you are required to carry out a risk assessment in a low-to-middle risk workplace environment such as an office or warehouse, it can be quite an ordeal to know where to begin. But a new publication, the A-Z of Health & Safety Risk Assessment in Ireland, offers employers, managers, health and safety personnel and union officials a succinct, hands-on and practical guide to doing precisely that. Edited by Michael McMahon and published by Thomson Professional Information (TPi), Dublin, the £195, 700-page publication is presented in a good quality loose-leaf 91/2-inch square folder. Part I has chapters on the legal and regulatory system; enforcement authorities, inspections and penalties; competent persons and competent advice; hazards and risks at work; risk assessment system and arrangements; and keeping records.

Part II provides 13 succinct summaries of regulations, including those pertaining to construction, chemical agents, electricity, display screen equipment, first aid, signs, manual handling, noise, personal protective equipment, work equipment, and notification of accidents and dangerous occurrences.

Part III comprises 36 modules on hazards that exist in the office environment: asbestos, control of building and construction, control of contractors, disabled persons, display screen equipment, drugs and alcohol, electricity, environmental protection, fire, first aid and accidents.

It includes modules on food and water, furniture, gas, hazardous substances, lifts and escalators, lone working, manual handling, new and expectant mothers, noise, personal protective equipment, rest facilities and clothes storage, safety signs, smoking in the workplace and stress at work. The remaining modules are on temporary staff, toilet and washing facilities, traffic routes, vehicles and driving, violence and aggression to staff, visitors, waste management, water systems, window cleaning, work equipment, workplace and young persons. Each of the modules in Part III asks, "What are the hazards?" "What is the Law?" and "What do you need to do about it?" Some modules also have a "Technical Appendix" and every module has a "References" section.

For instance, when dealing with the module on work equipment, a concise, four-point model extract from the Safety Statement regarding work equipment is given.

Then there's a model risk assessment checklist for each individual item of work equipment. Next, a three-column table gives a list of typical risks associated with different items of equipment. For instance, hazards and risks associated with the photocopier include electrocution, light, ozone and toner dust. Typical precautions listed include: staff not permitted to open photocopier; staff advised to copy with lid down; copiers sited in well-ventilated areas; sealed toner packs used and staff advised to wipe up - rather than brush or vacuum - spillages.

This module also includes a checklist on "periodic checks". For example, it advises to check for each item of equipment that there is staff training for safe use and a summary of elements covered in training for hazardous equipment.

That module also presents a handy checklist for purchasing or hiring equipment which could be given to all managers responsible for procuring equipment. This, in turn, is followed by a sample "log of authorised persons and their training" for authorised users of hazardous equipment.

The next section deals with keeping records, for compliance - and proof of compliance - with legal requirements, such as records of what has been done; audit and check reports; and records of communication to personnel. It lists records that should be kept: specifications and designs for work equipment; procurement checklist; staff authorisation/training log; maintenance and inspection records; and specific risk assessment records.

The module concludes with a reference to other relevant modules, relevant publications from the Health and Safety Authority in Ireland and the Health and Safety Executive in Britain, and succinct details about Irish standards for work equipment and where to find more information.

Mr Neil Holohan, research and marketing executive at TPi admits that while the publication covers high risk areas such as waste management, solvents, hazardous substances and asbestos, "it does not cover these in adequate detail for environments such as construction, chemical production or manufacturing".

Curiously, despite the book's acknowledgment that "slips, trips and falls" form one of the two most common categories of accidents at work, there is no module on slips and trips.

Nevertheless, the A-Z of Health & Safety Risk Assessment in Ireland will make a worthwhile, practical and user-friendly contribution to promoting health and safety in all low-to-mid risk working environments, and an invaluable addition to many a bookshelf. The publisher is planning two updates annually, with the first in April 1999 and the second in September 1999.