Individual risk management report, Streakers Hair and Beauty Salon

Streakers Hair and Beauty Salon has just been sold to a new owner. The owner plans to appoint one of the current staff as manager, but he also wants to make sure that Streakers is a safe place to work. He is not a hairdresser himself and is uncertain about the safety of all the different types of equipment, so he decides to undertake a risk assessment. You have been asked to prepare a report on the following matters.

• Identify the main plant, chemical and biological hazards likely to be found at Streakers.


• Assuming no controls are in place at Streakers, assess the risk in relation to: the two highest-risk plant hazards; the two highest-risk chemical hazards; coronavirus; and the highest-risk biological hazard other than coronavirus.


• Assess the risks in relation to the six hazards. Justify your answer.


• Decide on appropriate control measures to reduce the risk of each of the hazards. Use the hierarchy of controls when selecting your controls.


• When you have decided on the controls, reassess the risk and decide whether the new risk rating is acceptable.


• Check whether the risk ratings conform to the ALARP principle. Is it cost-effective to introduce these controls? Is the risk too great not to implement them? Include recommendations in your report.


• Include a table which indicates your assessment of the likelihood (A-E in Table 6.3 of Archer et al. 2018), consequences (1-5 in Table 6.2 in Archer et al. 2018) and total risk rating (low, medium, high, very high in Table 6.4 in Archer et al. 2018) for each hazard, with and without your recommended controls. That is, you need to determine the likelihood, consequences and total risk rating for each hazard when no controls are used, and then reassess when the controls are implemented to see if the risk would be reduced. Include your recommended controls in the table.


• Develop a brief plant-purchasing policy for future plant purchases. In writing the policy, refer to the pre- and post-purchasing tips on page 135 of Archer et al. (2018). The policy must be written in your own words, not simply cut-and-pasted from Archer et al.

When identifying, assessing and recommending controls for chemical hazards, you must use relevant safety data sheets for each chemical hazard. When identifying, assessing and recommending controls for all hazards, you must use relevant guides, standards or codes of practice for the hairdressing and beauty industry, where possible. Use Singapore materials where possible; otherwise you must use materials from another jurisdiction or jurisdictions. There are relevant materials available online on the hairdressing industry from safety authorities in Europe, UK and several Australian states.

Ensure all ideas and material in the report derived from sources are appropriately referenced. The safety data sheets must be referenced in-text and listed in your list of references in the usual way. Also include URL links to the safety data sheets in your list of references. Do not include PDFs or other images of the safety data sheets in your assignment or as appendices.

This assignment must be submitted in Word document format. An RMIT cover sheet is no longer required for assignments submitted to Canvas. However, a title page with the title of the report, course name, student name and number, tutor’s name, and tutorial day and time is required. An executive summary is not required for a report of this length.

Essential sources:

• Safety data sheets.


• WSH Council (Singapore) 2015, ‘Code of practice on workplace safety and health (WSH) risk management’, Second Revision, WSH Council and Ministry of Manpower, Singapore. 


• Archer et al. 2018, WHS: A Management Guide, 5th edn, Cengage Learning, Australia. Chapter 6, ‘Identifying hazards and managing risk’ and Chapter 7, ‘Managing hazards associated with plant’.


• Guidance material on safety in the hairdressing and beauty industry from the health and safety regulator in one or more jurisdictions.