Services: Risk assessments and Equality Impact assessments
A risk assessment is an important step in protecting your assets, including staff. It is an important step in ensuring that money is spent wisely and your paying customers get the most out of their money. It is part of effective self regulation.
It helps you focus on the risks that really matter - the ones with the potential to cause real harm. In many instances, straightforward measures can readily control risks and knowing the number and scale of risks can help create an innovative working environment, as you tackle potential problems before they arise.
We carry out Equality Impact assessments for each project we get involved with, to ensure that all social research and consultancy work does not directly or indirectly discriminate against any individuals or groups. At the end of each project we reflect on how the work has contributed to a fair and open society.
Equality impact assessments allow you to consider and understand the communities and customers you work with, and to plan with their needs in mind.
Assessments can also help satisfy stakeholders, both internally and externally, that the process has been sufficiently rigorous, in proportion to the importance of the issue and the policy.
- Be creative – you can use qualitative data, focus groups or informal consultation and the local voluntary sector is likely to have intelligence about local equalities communities.
- Focus on outcomes and tangible improvements.
- Use the process to get team 'buy in' across your service – be clear about what you will do differently at the end of the assessment.
- If no changes and improvements are planned, your assessment probably hasn't fulfilled its purpose.
- Use the term ‘service improvement’ – everyone can then see how the process relates to service improvement.
- Treat the exercise as a form of service challenge.
- Build contacts and relationships with colleagues in other departments, and even from other councils, to assist and challenge the process.
Advice on Equality Impact Assessments can be found on the IdEA website. They (IdEA) also suggest that you don't try to do the Equality Impact Assessment on your own! SHARP can work with you to deliver robust assessments. For an informal chat call Barbra Carlisle on 020 7503 5834 or email barbra@sharp-research.com.
For examples of work please see our portfolio on equality and diversity.