Health and Safety Risk Assessments in the workplace

Risk Assessments in the workplace are a systematic approach towards the identification of hazards and mitigation of risk by means of the application of adequate control measures to provide a safe workplace. Risk Assessments themselves, have little value, unless their application is completed by seasoned professionals on a continuous basis to ensure the improvement of the risk management process.

Risk Assessments therefore need to be completed as they are required by the Occupational Health and Safety Act 85 of 1993, and they are also highlighted as a major focus on the Occupational Health and Safety Act Amendment Bill, with severe consequences for non-compliance.

Various types of risk assessments are used in practice ranging from baseline risk assessments, to issue-based risk assessments and task-based risk assessments to identify and through effective risk management controls are required to either eliminate risk completely or to bring risk levels down to acceptable levels for employees to work safely. It is here that this package comes to life for you.

The Health and Safety Risk Control Process

After the completion of the risk assessment, the verification of the control measures that have been identified, in practice is required. The Health and Safety Risk Control Package utilises Control Measure Inspection Checklists which are carried out by a Health and Safety Risk Controller from MAKROSAFE on a monthly basis, to advise you on any outstanding Health and Safety Policies, Health and Safety Appointment Letters or legal appointments, Safe Work Procedures and/or Safe Operating Procedures, Health and Safety Signage, PPE, Equipment, Medicals, Certificates or any other previously identified controls, and their validity and use by your employees on a daily basis.

This inspection and the planned task observation it supports, is therefore carried out by the MAKROSAFE Risk Controller by physically observing the task as it is performed, and according to the risk assessment completed, the Risk Controller will then provide you with the required assistance and advice to correct, implement or adjust the controls for successful Health and Safety Risk Management and the control of workplace hazards with the use of My Safety Shop.


                                                                                                 MAKROSAFE / SAFETYWALLET / MY SAFETY SHOP are in Partnership.

Tasks and activities are therefor continuously monitored for the purpose of accident prevention as well as to move towards a Health and Safety Certificate of Compliance. Risk Assessments are also reviewed annually as well as when a task or process has changed for effective control implementation, and the MAKROSAFE Risk Controller will also conduct a Risk Assessment Recall, offering employees or persons who have previously been affected by a workplace incident the opportunity to share their experience with the Health and Safety Committee. This greatly aides in fostering a Health and Safety Culture in the work place.

MAKROSAFE will also provide you with support for any Section 24 Accidents that have occurred by performing an accident investigation and root cause analysis to determine the origins of such an accident, and then provide you with the needed support along with My Safety Shop in adjusting your safety management system in preventing the incident from happening again. Furthermore, clients are provided with monthly reports, powered by OHS Online, as well as an annual summary report detailing the progress of your safety and occupational health at work.

Finally, the Risk Controller will also be driving a near miss campaign with your health and safety team on a monthly basis to discuss and investigate those incidents that may pose a threat to your employees, as well as to perform the job safety observations where required to adjust those control measures for those tasks where risk is unacceptable.

By signing up to the Health and Safety Risk Control Package, you are not only answering the question of Is Risk Management important but you are also developing your Health and Safety Management System to the point where you may qualify for a health and safety compliance certificate, and in the process, you are ensuring that all your employees can return home healthy and safe, after work.
Health and Safety Risk Control Package is available for purchase on My Safety Shop.
SafetyWallet Subscribers enjoy a discount on the Package starting from 15% to 62.5% due to their Subscription and Compliance Ratings. Subscriptions are available at SafetyWallet.
MAKROSAFE is the leading service provider in South Africa. We assist clients by managing their health and safety programme cost effectively and help them reach Health and Safety compliance.