Suitable and Sufficient
Plain-English UK construction-safety guidance by the Riskora Editorial Team
"Suitable and sufficient" is the standard set by Regulation 3 of the MHSWR 1999 — a risk assessment must identify the significant hazards, be proportionate to the risk, and inform safer work.
The phrase deliberately does not require an exhaustive treatment of every conceivable hazard. It requires the significant ones to be identified, the people at risk to be considered, and the controls to be proportionate.
In practice, an inspector or principal contractor judges 'suitable and sufficient' against four tests: does it cover the significant hazards; does it consider who is harmed and how; does it follow the hierarchy of controls; and could a reasonable person rely on it to plan safer work.
A two-page generic risk assessment for a complex job will fail every test. A focused two-page assessment for a simple job, written specifically, can easily pass all four.
Why it matters
Length is not the test. Specificity and honest engagement with the actual hazards are.