Workplace Risk Assessments in South Africa: What the Law Expects.
A risk assessment is where every other health and safety document starts. This guide explains when one is required, the different types, who may do it, how often it must be reviewed, and what separates a useful assessment from paperwork.
By OHSE Resolved · Reviewed September 2026 · 7 minute read
What a risk assessment is
A health and safety risk assessment identifies what could harm people in the course of the work, judges how likely and how serious that harm is, and decides what will be done about it. In South Africa it is often called a HIRA: hazard identification and risk assessment. The output is a list of controls that someone is responsible for and that can be checked on the floor, and the assessment is the record of how you got there.
Is it a legal requirement?
Yes. Section 8(2)(d) of the Occupational Health and Safety Act, 1993 requires every employer to establish, as far as is reasonably practicable, what hazards to health or safety are attached to the work, and what precautionary measures should be taken. That is a risk assessment, whatever you call the document.
Several regulations then go further and require a specific assessment:
- Construction Regulations, 2014, regulation 9: before construction work starts, a competent person appointed in writing must carry out a risk assessment, and it forms part of the health and safety plan.
- Hazardous Chemical Agents Regulations, 2021: an assessment of exposure to hazardous chemical agents.
- Ergonomics Regulations, 2019: an ergonomic risk assessment.
- Hazardous Biological Agents Regulations, 2022: an assessment where people may be exposed to biological agents.
- Noise, physical agents, asbestos and lead regulations: each has its own assessment and monitoring duties where the hazard is present.
Baseline, issue-based and continuous
- Baseline risk assessment. A broad assessment of the whole workplace or project: every area, activity and group of people. It sets your risk profile and tells you where deeper work is needed.
- Issue-based or task-based risk assessment. A detailed assessment of one task, machine, process or change, such as a new production line, work at height, a confined space or a non-routine maintenance job.
- Continuous risk assessment. The day-to-day checks that keep the other two alive: pre-task checks, toolbox talks, inspections and planned task observations.
Most businesses need all three. The baseline tells you what matters, the task-based assessments control it, and the continuous checks catch what changes.
Health risk assessments
A health risk assessment, or occupational health risk assessment, looks at exposure over time and not at sudden injury: chemicals, dusts and fumes, biological agents, noise, heat and cold, vibration, lighting and ergonomic strain. Where exposure needs to be measured, the measurements are done through an approved inspection authority, and the results decide whether medical surveillance is needed.
Not sure whether an exposure applies to you? The free Ergonomic Risk Screener, Physical Agents Risk Screener and HBA Risk Screener help you decide what needs a proper assessment.
Who may do it
The Act and the regulations ask for a competent person: someone with the knowledge, training and experience for the specific work being assessed. On construction work that person must be appointed in writing. Competence is about the task, so the person assessing a chemical store is not automatically the right person to assess scaffolding.
The best assessments are done with the people who do the work. They know the shortcuts, the awkward reaches and the jobs that only happen twice a year.
Is your risk assessment controlling work, or describing paperwork?
The Risk Assessment Effectiveness Check shows whether your assessments reflect the real work and stay current. No signup.
How often it must be reviewed
- At fixed intervals where the regulation says so. The Hazardous Chemical Agents Regulations, 2021, the Ergonomics Regulations, 2019 and the Asbestos Abatement Regulations, 2020 each require the assessment at intervals not exceeding two years.
- When something changes. New machinery, materials, methods, layout, shift patterns or people.
- After an incident or a near miss that shows a control did not work.
- When monitoring or medical results show that exposure is not under control.
A sensible rule for everything else: review the baseline every year, and never let any assessment go past two.
What a good one contains
- The scope: which site, area, task and people it covers, and the date.
- The steps of the task, as the work is really done.
- The hazards at each step, including health hazards and non-routine situations.
- Who could be harmed: employees, contractors, visitors, the public.
- A risk rating before and after controls, using one consistent method.
- Controls in order of strength: eliminate, substitute, engineer, administrate, and PPE last.
- An owner and a date for every action.
- Proof that it was communicated to the people doing the work.
Where assessments usually go wrong
- Copied from a template, so the hazards belong to someone else’s workplace.
- Written in the office, without watching the task.
- PPE listed as the answer to everything.
- No one named for the actions, so nothing changes.
- Filed and never opened again.
Common questions
What does HIRA stand for?
Hazard identification and risk assessment. It is the everyday South African name for a workplace risk assessment.
Does a small business need a risk assessment?
Yes. Section 8 applies to every employer. A small, low-risk workplace needs a short assessment, and it still needs to be written down, acted on and reviewed.
Can I use a template?
A template helps with layout and the rating method. The hazards, the people and the controls have to come from your own workplace, or the assessment will not protect anyone or stand up to a client or an inspector.
How long does a risk assessment take?
A single task can be assessed in an hour or two with the right people. A baseline for a whole site takes longer and depends on the number of areas and activities. Tell us what you do and how many people you have, and we will give you a realistic scope.
Is a risk assessment the same as a safety file?
No. The risk assessment is one of the most important documents inside a safety file. See our guide: What goes in a health and safety file?
This guide is general information about South African occupational health and safety requirements as at September 2026. It is not legal advice, and it does not replace the text of the Act and the Regulations. What applies to you depends on your activities, exposures and risks.
Need a risk assessment done properly?
We assess the work as it is really done, rate it consistently and leave you with controls that have owners and dates.