There are many reasons why a risk assessment project may stray off course or unveil nasty surprises. Here are a few problems that may arise during a project along with potential solutions:
Most of these issues can be avoided with an agreed project plan, scope of work and terms of reference.
“BS 8580-1:2019 Water Quality – Risk assessments for Legionella control – Code of practice” recommends a list of items to agree before work commences. Regarding access its states:
“The scope of the risk assessment, including identifying the systems that are to be assessed and those that are not to be assessed, taking in to account the asset register, any schematic diagrams and documentation on operation and maintenance. This is important as certain aspects of the risk assessment could require specialist knowledge or equipment (including PPE) to which the assessor would require access.”
If the Responsible Person is unaware of access to every asset, a clause can be written into the project plan regarding extension / change to the scope with adequate reimbursement.
Some costings are submitted without the availability of all information i.e. a tender, which can be written without full input from the person with the knowledge of site assets. In this instance, an agreement can be made and costs can be changed as new information is gained after tender award.
It is in both party’s interest for the project to run on time and within budget. Without agreeing the specific terms of reference before a project starts, however, this can be difficult to achieve in an industry that is becoming more and more tender-based.
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Editors Note: The information provided in this blog is correct at date of original publication - January 2020.
© Water Hygiene Centre 2020
