At this stage of your apprenticeship training, you're probably used to carrying out an on-site risk assessment before you begin a new job, particularly if you do a lot of commercial work.

Even if you don't complete a formal risk assessment document, you're no doubt familiar with the process of signing onto a Safe Work Method Statement (SWMS) or Job Safety Analysis (JSA).

Some flooring installers think that the whole concept of doing a risk assessment only applies to big jobsites or commercial projects, and that on smaller domestic jobs everyone can relax and forget about it.

But the fact is that every professional operator utilises the basic risk assessment process on every jobsite they go to, regardless of its size, and regardless of whether they're required to record the outcomes on a template document.

This is because the three basic steps are actually very simple to carry out, and compared to the effort that's required, the rewards are huge in terms of avoiding injuries and other problems that might cause you grief.

This means that even on the smallest domestic job in someone's home, you should still take the time to:

1. Identify the hazards - that is, look around and note anything that might cause a problem.
   
   
2. Assess the risks - decide on how serious each hazard is that you've noticed, and whether you should remove it or manage the issue in another way.
   
   
3. Control the risks - take steps to minimise the chance of that hazard causing an incident that results in injuries, property damage or some other type of harm. If the potential outcomes are serious, put more thought into your control measures. If they're not so bad, don't spend as much time on the solution.

We've talked a lot about the various hazards that apply to particular tasks relating to working on-site, preparing subfloors and installing carpet in several other units from the Flooring Technology resource.

Below is a summary of the main safety issues relevant to the installation of adhesive fixed carpet, together with the units they are discussed in.

You should go back over these topics if you need to refresh your memory on them, because you will be assessed on all of these factors when you undertake the practical demonstration events for this unit.