Hazard identification and risk assessment

This page contains a general description of leisure service providers' obligations under the Consumer Services Act 185/2025. For more detailed instructions, see Tukes instructions Safety in Consumer Services.

Continuous improvement of safety as the aim

All safety work is based on the service provider knowing the hazards associated with the service. A hazard refers to something occurring in a service that may cause health harms to a consumer service user or a person directly affected by it.

The service provider must possess comprehensive and accurate information on the hazards of the service, enabling them to take systematic and effective measures to ensure its safety. Hazard identification must lead to concrete measures that improve safety. The goal is to prevent accidents and continuously improve safety.

Risk factors and incidents

The service provider must identify risk factors and incidents associated with the service.

Risk factors are concrete issues in a consumer service that may have harmful consequences for health. They could include a physical or chemical risk factor, a physical or psychosocial stress factor, or an accident risk. Examples are a yard slippery with ice, a foam pit that is too shallow, or a nervous horse.

An incident occurs when a service user or a person directly affected by the service is exposed to a risk factor, in other words enters the hazard zone and is exposed to a hazard. For example, an incident may occur if a customer of a petting zoo walks across an icy yard that has not been sanded, a child jumps from a trampoline into a shallow foam pit, or a beginner is given a nervous horse to ride.

While a risk factor does not necessarily lead to an incident, one or more risk factors are always present in an incident. The safety of the service can be improved by eliminating all risk factors or by preventing incidents, in other words stopping customers from being exposed to the harmful consequences of different risk factors in the service.

Hazards requiring special attention

Special attention must be paid to identifying and examining the following hazards in services:

  • risk of falling into water or drowning
  • hazards caused by powerful kinetic energy
  • risk of falling from a height
  • risks caused by a high number of people
  • hazards arising from extreme conditions, or sudden changes in conditions
  • hazards caused by large or otherwise dangerous animals
  • hazards caused by procedures on the body or invasive treatments 
  • hazards caused by the remote location of a service environment.

Identifying hazards

All hazards associated with the different parts and stages of the service must be identified. The Identified hazards must be documented in writing exactly as they occur in the specific service. This means, for example, recording what risk factors exist in the service, where or in which stages of the service they occur, what types of hazardous situations they cause, who is exposed to the risk, what measures have already been taken to prevent hazardous situations, and what additional measures are needed to improve safety.

Risk assessment

Risk assessment refers to determining if the risks are at an acceptable level currently and with the current measures. Tukes does not require service providers to determine the magnitude of the risks arising from risk factors by means of calculations, numerical risk matrices or similar. Rather than quantifying the risk, it is more important to assess if the current measures are sufficient to prevent identified risks and to identify, plan and implement additional measures needed to ensure safety.

Methods and documentation

The hazard identification and risk assessment must be documented in writing. It is part of the service provider’s duty of documentation. The service provider can freely choose the method and format of this documentation, as long as the selected method is a good fit with the service in question and produces sufficiently detailed information.

Tukes has published general instructions, checklists and forms to support hazard identification and the planning of safety measures.