Every safety system starts with knowing what can go wrong. We identify it, rate it, control it and document it — in a form that holds up in front of an inspector, a principal contractor or an insurer.
OHS Act 85 of 1993
Legally aligned assessments
A risk assessment is not optional paperwork. The Occupational Health and Safety Act requires every employer to establish, as far as is reasonably practicable, the hazards attached to the work performed and the precautionary measures needed to protect people (section 8(2)(d)). Specific regulations go further — construction work, work at height, hazardous chemical agents, ergonomics and noise exposure each carry their own documented assessment requirements.
In practice, the risk assessment is the document everything else hangs off. Your appointments, procedures, training matrix, PPE issue, permit systems, inspection checklists and emergency plan should all trace back to it. Get it wrong and the rest of the system is built on sand — which is exactly what an inspector or a serious incident investigation will expose.
SHEQ Guard conducts risk assessments that are specific to your tasks, your equipment and your people. We do it on site, with the employees who do the work, because the person operating the machine knows things the manual does not.
Ten types of assessment, from a full baseline profile to a single task or a specific issue.
A full-site assessment that establishes your overall risk profile — every department, process and activity ranked so you know where the real exposure sits and where to spend first. This is the starting point for any new client and the anchor document for your whole SHEQ system.
A step-by-step breakdown of a single task — each step examined for hazards, rated for risk before and after controls, and closed out with controls applied through the hierarchy of control. Priced per task, so you can build your risk register up at the pace your operation allows.
A targeted assessment triggered by a specific event — a new machine, a change in process or layout, a new chemical, a near-miss or an incident. Conducted quickly, documented properly, and used to justify the corrective action you take.
Ongoing evaluation of risk during day-to-day operations, built into your inspections, toolbox talks and supervisor routines so that new hazards are caught as they appear rather than at the next annual review.
Structured observation of employees performing critical tasks, comparing what actually happens against the documented procedure. PTOs are where you discover the gap between the procedure on paper and the practice on the floor.
Assessment of health exposures rather than injury risks — noise, illumination, ventilation, thermal stress, indoor air quality and chemical exposure — carried out with registered occupational hygiene specialists, and used to define who needs medical surveillance and how often.
A full review of your chemical inventory, exposure routes, storage, labelling, safety data sheets, PPE and emergency arrangements, producing the assessment required before hazardous chemical agents may be used in the workplace.
Evaluation of workstations, postures, repetitive tasks and manual handling against the Ergonomics Regulations, identifying musculoskeletal risk and recommending practical layout, equipment and work-rotation changes.
Assessment of all work at height, feeding into a fall protection plan compiled and signed off by a competent fall protection planner as required by the Construction Regulations.
Identification of the environmental aspects of your operation — waste, emissions, effluent, storage and spills — and their impacts, with controls and monitoring aligned to ISO 14001 and applicable environmental legislation.
The same method on every site, so your risk register stays consistent and easy to defend.
We agree exactly what is being assessed — a site, a department, a task or a specific issue — and who from your team needs to be involved.
We walk the process with your supervisors and operators, observe the task as it is actually performed, and record every hazard: mechanical, electrical, chemical, physical, ergonomic, environmental and human factors.
Each hazard is rated for severity and likelihood using a consistent, defensible methodology, giving you a ranked risk register instead of an undifferentiated list.
Controls are selected through the hierarchy of control — eliminate, substitute, engineer, administrate, then PPE — with a residual risk rating after controls so you can prove the reduction.
The assessment is signed by the assessment team, communicated to the affected employees against a register, and given a review date so it never quietly goes stale.
Everything is supplied digitally for your SHEQ file, with printed copies on request.
✓ A signed risk assessment record for every task or issue assessed.
✓ A consolidated risk register ranking all identified risks across the site.
✓ A corrective action plan with a responsible person and a target date against every action.
✓ An employee communication and acknowledgement register, so you can prove the assessment was shared.
✓ A review schedule with the next due date for each assessment.
✓ Digital copies for your SHEQ file, and printed copies on request.
✓ Before starting a new site, process, product line or piece of equipment.
✓ After an incident, near-miss or dangerous occurrence.
✓ When a client, principal contractor or insurer asks for your risk assessments.
✓ Ahead of a Department of Employment and Labour inspection or a client audit.
✓ When a new chemical, substance or contractor is introduced.
✓ When legislation or a standard changes.
✓ As a minimum, at the review interval set in the assessment itself — at least once a year.
Once-off task risk assessment — from R280 per task. Ideal where you need a specific activity assessed and documented. Order online.
Baseline risk assessment — quoted on the size and complexity of the site. Request a quote.
Included in our packages — risk assessments, baseline and issue-based assessments, continuous assessment and planned task observations are all included in the Full and Quarterly packages, from R6 500 per month. View packages.
What clients usually ask before they book.
At the interval stated in the assessment itself — at least once a year — and immediately whenever the task, equipment, substance or workplace changes, or after an incident.
The assessment should involve the people who perform the task, their supervisor, and the health and safety representative for that section. We facilitate the process and produce the documentation, but the knowledge comes from your team.
Yes. Our once-off risk assessment is priced per task from R280, so you can start with your highest-risk activity and build from there.
Yes. We coordinate noise, illumination, ventilation, thermal stress, air quality, ergonomic and chemical exposure surveys through registered occupational hygiene specialists, and use the results to define your medical surveillance programme.
Our assessments are compiled to the format expected under the Construction Regulations and are supplied ready to file in your health and safety file. If your principal contractor has a prescribed template, we will complete theirs.
Tell us what you do and we will tell you which assessments the law requires of you — and what it will cost to put them in place.
