Care Home Environment Risk Assessment

Why this matters for your registration

•CQC wants to see that the care environment has been assessed for hazards affecting residents, staff and visitors.
•A good assessment demonstrates how slips, trips, falls, accessibility issues, equipment risks and emergency arrangements will be managed safely.
•It also helps show that your premises safety documents work together as part of a wider system of governance and risk management.

•Assessment of general environmental hazards such as flooring, lighting, obstructions, furniture stability and communal-area risks.
•Consideration of outdoor areas including pathways, gardens, handrails, flooding, ice and other weather-related hazards.
•Assessment of equipment safety, including relevant electrical testing, storage of mobility or medical equipment and related operational risks.
•Specific risks to residents, such as falls, entrapment, scalding and access to hazardous areas or restricted rooms.
•Specific risks to staff, including lifting, manual handling, lone working, stress and training requirements.
•Emergency-related arrangements covering evacuation, first aid, incident reporting and links to your wider continuity planning.

•Make the assessment specific to your actual building, layout, residents, staffing model and environmental hazards.
•Reference related documents such as your Fire Risk Assessment, Business Continuity Plan, Legionella Risk Assessment and gas/electrical safety records.
•Check that the same rooms, equipment and arrangements are described consistently across your premises documents.
•Avoid treating the assessment as a general checklist with no link to your real care environment.

Need help?

We can help you organise an Environment Risk Assessment so it reflects your actual premises, resident needs and linked safety documents clearly.