The complete package!
‘“Carbolite Gero” is a leading manufacturer of laboratory and industrial furnaces based in Derbyshire. The furnaces we manufacture operate between 30⁰C and 3000⁰C and are exported across the globe.
At Carbolite Gero, we use risk assessments for a wide variety of projects; these include, office-based risk assessments and those for the production areas and workshops we operate in. We carry out risk assessments for the use of power tools, hand tools and large equipment, as well as for vehicles including forklift trucks.
Prior to using THSP Risk Managements’ Risk Assessment Builder (RAB), we had to build our risk assessments using a generic template. There were no drop-down menus so unless a possible risk was already in mind, something could easily be missed. Furthermore, all the forms had to be collated from various locations for different tasks, making the whole process quite long-winded.
I first came across the RAB when it was recommended to me by our health and safety consultant. He invited me along to a seminar on the recently launched RAB. This seminar was in-depth and worthwhile; it gave me the opportunity to have a complete start-to-finish walkthrough of how the RAB works.
When using the RAB for the first time, it was clear that the drop-down menu would be invaluable, as all possibilities and situations are built in to the system. This makes it easy to collate all the information needed to complete an effective risk assessment, giving pointers to look out for which could otherwise be missed. There are also some handy reference points to make sure that nothing is overlooked when going through the process.
Like anything new, I found it took a couple of practices to get used to. I had to transfer existing risk assessments from our old templates to the new RAB, so this helped in the process of learning the new system. Since I started using the RAB in October 2017, I have completed numerous different risk assessments, with more to come as older risk assessments also need transferring into the RAB. During this time, I have worked with other members of the team here at Carbolite Gero to go through the RAB with them, although I am still the main user of the RAB.
As I’ve become more fluent in the use of the RAB, the time to complete them has reduced. They can be stored and used for multiple projects and I’ve found this to be time-efficient, as I can go through quickly and make any minor amendments where required, instead of having to re-start a whole new risk assessment.
It’s great that the RAB operates from the cloud as well, as the relevant people can always access the risk assessment they require without having to wait for someone to send it to them. This really does make the RAB a complete package!’ – Christopher Harrison, Facilities Engineer, Carbolite Gero Ltd.
