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Example risk assessment for a cleaning contractor (shopping centre concourse)

Important reminder

This example risk assessment shows the kind of approach a small business might take. It can be used as a guide to think through some of the hazards in your business and the steps you need to take to control the risks. Please note that it is not a generic risk assessment that you can just put your company name on and adopt wholesale without any thought. This would not satisfy the law - and would not be effective in protecting people.

Every business is different - you need to think through the hazards and controls required in your business for yourself.

Setting the scene

This company provides commercial cleaning services to businesses. They employ 60 cleaners, some full-time and others part-time.  They have won a contract to clean all concourse areas, including outer areas of entrances, of a shopping centre.    

The shopping centre is open between 8.00am and 5.30pm, seven days a week, and has 24 hour security cover. General cleaning, by four cleaners, is done between 8.00am and 5.00pm, and more detailed cleaning, by six cleaners, between 5.00pm and 9.00pm. If a cleaner is sick or on holiday, an agency worker is used. A supervisor is in charge of each shift.

Rest facilities for cleaners, including toilets and a small kitchen, are provided at the shopping centre management offices. Cleaning machines, materials and other equipment is securely stored there.

The contracts manager did the risk assessment.

How was the general risk assessment done?

The manager followed the guidance in ‘Five Steps to Risk Assessment’.

  1. To identify the hazards, the manager:
    • Looked at HSE’s website for free advice and guidance on controlling risks in the cleaning industry and at Business Link for advice and guidance on employing temporary workers.
    • Walked the areas where cleaning staff will be going, noting things that might be dangerous, taking into account HSE guidance.
    • Talked to safety representatives, and other staff, to learn from their experience, and took into account the needs of any particular staff members.
    • Talked to the shopping centre managers and agreed issues such as:
      1. lines and frequency of communication between the cleaning company and the shopping centre management;
      2. facilities and equipment available to the cleaners, including the amount of storage space available, access to welfare facilities for staff, etc;
      3. the system for cleaners to report near miss accidents (for example, to members of the public) to shopping centre management and for reporting any risks that cleaners may discover, such as damaged floor tiles;
      4. the security of cleaning equipment and substances, to ensure only trained cleaners can access/use them; and
      5. making sure that all cleaners know what they must do if there is a fire.
  2. The manager wrote down who would be harmed by the hazards and how.
  3. For each hazard, the manager wrote down what controls, if any, were in place to manage these hazards. He then compared these controls to the good practice guidance on HSE’s website. Where he did consider existing controls to be good enough, he wrote down what else needed to be done to control or eliminate the risk.
  4. The manager discussed the findings of the risk assessment with the staff, making sure they understood the risks of the job and how these risks would be controlled and monitored. He also asked a supervisor to go through the risk assessment with the man with learning difficulties, to make sure he fully understood what it contained and what he had to do. He put a copy of the risk assessment up in the staff room for all staff to see and made it part of the induction process for new staff, including agency workers. Putting the risk assessment into practice, the manager decided to tackle the most important things first. He decided when actions would be done by, and who would do them. As each action was completed, it was ticked off the plan.
  5. The manager decided to review and update the risk assessment every year, or straightaway if there were major changes in the workplace – including in the use of equipment or chemicals.