What advantages and disadvantages of carrying out a risk assessment for the entire organisation and its overall operations?

The law requires that a business should carry out and record risk assessments if it has more than 5 employees.

Businesses are encouraged to carry out the assessments themselves if they have the competency in-house, however it would be wise for a smaller business to take expert advice and support when doing so.

A company such as CRL Risk Adviser, for example, offers small businesses a wealth of health and safety information in an easy to understand format. For a low cost - just £47 including VAT in the first year - a business can also access a library of downloadable document templates and support directly from the CRL experts.

Services like these are an enormous help to the small business owner who doesn't have the time to filter the huge amount of information out there and work out what is relevant to his or her business