SHEQ SERVICES · RISK ASSESSMENT
Workplace risk assessments
We walk your site, find what could hurt your people, rank each risk and give you a plain action plan to control it. A risk assessment is the foundation of health and safety compliance in South Africa, and usually the first document an inspector asks to see. We do risk assessments for businesses across Cape Town.
Why a risk assessment comes first
Section 8 of the Occupational Health and Safety Act 85 of 1993 says every employer must provide and maintain a workplace that is safe and without risk to health, as far as is reasonably practicable. You can't meet that duty without first knowing what your risks are. That is what a risk assessment does.
When a Department of Employment and Labour inspector visits, the risk assessment is usually the first document they ask for. If an incident happens, it's the document that shows whether you saw the hazard coming and did something about it.
There are three good reasons to get it right:
- Legal. It's the evidence that you've met your Section 8 duty, and many regulations, including those for construction, hazardous chemicals and noise, require their own specific risk assessment.
- Moral. A proper hazard identification and risk assessment (HIRA) shows exactly where people could be harmed, so you can protect them before something happens.
- Financial. You spend money on the controls that matter and skip the ones that don't. Fewer incidents also means less property damage, downtime and waste.
What's included
- Site walk-through of every area, with routine and non-routine tasks observed in person
- Baseline risk assessment covering the whole operation
- Hazard identification for each task, area and piece of equipment
- Risk scoring on a likelihood × severity matrix, before and after controls
- Issue-based risk assessments for specific tasks, such as working at height, hot work or confined spaces
- Controls ranked using the hierarchy of controls: eliminate, substitute, engineer, administer, then PPE
- A prioritised action plan with owners and target dates
- A written risk register you can keep updated, in Excel or in SHEQ24
- A close-out meeting with management to walk through the findings
How it works
- Scoping call. We learn what you do, how many sites and people you have, and any recent incidents or audit findings.
- Site visit. A BMS consultant walks the site with your supervisor, observing work as it happens and talking to the people doing it.
- Assessment. We identify hazards, score each risk and recommend controls in line with the hierarchy of controls.
- Report and action plan. You get a clear report: the risk register, the top risks to fix first and who should own each action.
- Follow-up. We check progress on the action plan, then review the assessment yearly, or sooner if your processes, equipment or premises change, or after an incident.
Who it's for
Any employer in South Africa. The size of the risk assessment changes with the business, but the duty doesn't. We regularly assess:
Food and beverage manufacturing · Warehousing and logistics · Construction sites · Laboratories · Workshops and engineering · Offices and retail · Agriculture and processing
Smaller businesses often start with a single baseline risk assessment. Larger sites usually need a baseline plus issue-based assessments for high-risk tasks, kept up to date as part of a full health and safety system.
The law behind itThe Acts and regulations behind this service
| Law | Section | What it requires |
|---|---|---|
| Occupational Health and Safety Act 85 of 1993 | Section 8 | Employers must provide and maintain a safe workplace, which includes identifying hazards and taking steps to control them. |
| Occupational Health and Safety Act 85 of 1993 | Section 13 | Employers must inform employees of the hazards in their work and the precautions to take. |
| Construction Regulations 2014 | Regulation 9 | Contractors must have a documented risk assessment, done by a competent person, before construction work starts. |
| Hazardous Chemical Agents Regulations 2021 | Risk assessment provisions | Employers must assess exposure to hazardous chemical agents. |
| Noise-Induced Hearing Loss Regulations 2003 | Assessment provisions | Employers must assess noise exposure where noise may be at or above the noise rating limit. |
Is a risk assessment a legal requirement in South Africa?
Yes. Section 8 of the OHS Act requires every employer to keep the workplace safe and without risk to health, as far as is reasonably practicable. A documented risk assessment is how you show you've done that. Several regulations, including the Construction Regulations 2014 and the Hazardous Chemical Agents Regulations 2021, also require their own specific risk assessments.
What's the difference between a baseline and an issue-based risk assessment?
A baseline risk assessment looks at your whole operation to find and rank all the significant risks. An issue-based risk assessment zooms in on one task or change, such as a new machine, hot work, working at height or a confined space entry. Most workplaces need a baseline assessment first, then issue-based assessments for high-risk tasks.
How often should a risk assessment be reviewed?
Review it at least once a year, and straight away whenever something changes: new equipment, a new process, a change in layout, a new building or an incident. An out-of-date risk assessment is one of the most common findings in audits and inspections, so we recommend keeping it as a living document.
How long does a risk assessment take?
It depends on the size and type of your site. A small office or workshop is quicker than a large or multi-site operation. We confirm the timeline in your quote once we know your site.
Can my own staff do the risk assessment?
Yes, if they're competent. That means trained and experienced in hazard identification and risk assessment. Many clients ask us to do the first baseline assessment, then train their team on our 2-day HIRA course so they can maintain it themselves. That's what we mean by compliance through competence.
Get in touch
Know your risks before an inspector does
Tell us about your site and we'll send a written quote for a baseline risk assessment.
- Phone064 549 5312
- Emailinfo@bmsholdings.co.za
- AddressThe Colosseum, First Floor, Century Way, Century City, Cape Town, 7441