Science ASSIST Information sheet: Risk assessment

This information sheet is an updated review of the answers to the following questions, and replaces the previously published Q&As:

● Can I use Dangerous goods classes to group risk assessments?

● How long are risk assessments current?

● What is the difference between the European Commission version of a risk assessment and the Globally Harmonised System version?

● Risk assessments for preparation and disposal: Is a risk assessment required every time I perform a task e.g., diluting concentrated HCl? Is an SOP sufficient?

● Risk assessments in NSW schools with regards to science experiments: do I need to provide my own risk assessment in situations where I am doing a science experiment that is written up in a text we are using, or is there an inherent risk assessment assumed to be completed by the textbook writers?

● Risk assessments: are risk assessments required for household items like bicarb and vinegar or boiling water in a beaker over a Bunsen burner? Does the food tech have to fill out risk assessments for doing these things and if not, then why do we have to for science? I have tried to tell them that they should always fill out a risk assessment and that it is to cover them and the school legally in case something should go wrong.

● Risk assessments: who does them? I have been told that as a lab tech, I have to write risk assessments for the teachers for classroom use. I know that they should definitely be writing their own, as they're the ones doing the experiment and I am not. Is there any documentation that says that it's THEIR obligation to write them and not someone else?