Generic Risk Assessment for Charity Shops
This information provides charities with background information and guidance and is not a substitute for the advice provided by the Health and Safety Executive or a competent, suitably qualified professional advisor. Should you have any queries or concerns about the implications of the contents of this pack on your charity, or require specific advice on the facts of your situation, please seek professional advice.
Please note that the Health and Safety Project is a joint ACS/Oxfam project, funded in part by the European Agency for Health and Safety at work, and as a result, may be used by any charities, including those which are not members of the ACS. Please ensure that you read the explanatory notes below before using the pack.
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the Generic Risk Assessment for Charity Shops
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a printable copy of the Explanatory Notes
Explanatory Notes
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This is a sample risk assessment for all charity shops. It is intended to provide an indication of the kind of risk control measures that should be considered in charity retailing. Although some of the control measures listed are required by law, not all of them should be considered as compulsory. These control measures should also not be seen as an exhaustive list of the means by which charities can eliminate or control risks in shops.
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This is a general risk assessment. It does not include the specific hazards, which are required by law to have their own separate risk assessments, such as: Hazardous Substances, Manual Handling Operations and Display Screen Equipment.
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It contains the key control measures for Fire Safety, although it does not represent a complete and full Fire Risk Assessment, which is another separate risk assessment required by law for every property.
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It is a generic risk assessment and is, therefore, to be treated as a guide or a model for conducting site-specific assessments of individual shops. It would be good practice for a charity to:
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amend the recommended control measures on this generic sample, adding and deleting as appropriate
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assess each individual shop using the revised template to check whether the control measures are in operation and, if not, what further action is required, when, and by whom to reduce the remaining risks to an acceptable level
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There is also space on the penultimate page for any control measures specific to an individual shop to be detailed. 5. A risk assessment should be reviewed within 3 years and when:
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there is reason to believe it is no longer valid
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there have been significant changes to working practices or personnel
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or because there has been a serious accident or incident
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changes to the range of products sold (e.g. selling furniture, electrical products or converting to a specialist book shop)
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occupying extra floors, such as making use of upper floors or basements for sorting or storage
Examples of significant changes to working practices would include:
All staff should be informed about the significant findings of the risk assessment and the control measures they need to follow. There is space at the end of the risk assessment for recording details of how and when this is done. It is recommended that a copy of the assessment should be kept on file on the premises for the Environmental Health Officer to see.
