Practical workplace guidance
For a warehouse in Douala, a construction project in Central Africa or a manufacturing workshop in West Africa, the approach is the same: understand the real task, involve the people doing it and check that controls work in practice.
Hazard and risk: what is the difference?
A hazard is something with the potential to cause harm, such as an unguarded machine, a solvent or a moving forklift. Risk concerns how likely harm is and how serious the consequences could be, taking existing controls into account. A risk assessment should cover ill health as well as immediate injury.
Step 1: Identify the hazards
Walk through the workplace while normal work is happening. Include cleaning, maintenance, deliveries and other non-routine tasks. Ask workers where they encounter difficulties and review incident and near-miss records.
Look beyond obvious dangers. Noise, dust, repetitive handling, heat, fatigue and work-related stress can be as important as unprotected edges or moving machinery.
Step 2: Decide who might be harmed and how
Consider employees, contractors, visitors, cleaners and people nearby. Check whether new workers, pregnant workers, people with disabilities or others need additional arrangements.
For each hazard, describe how each group could be injured or made ill and how they are exposed during routine and non-routine work.
Step 3: Evaluate the risks and decide on precautions
Evaluate how likely each hazard is to cause harm and how serious that harm could be. Examine the controls already in place and how work is organised, then compare these arrangements with recognised good practice and applicable standards. Decide what further precautions are needed to prevent harm.
First consider whether the hazard can be eliminated. If not, choose a less risky option, prevent access to the hazard and organise work to reduce exposure. Use suitable personal protective equipment to support these measures, not to replace stronger controls. Provide appropriate welfare arrangements, including first aid and washing facilities where needed.
Involve workers in choosing precautions. Check that the proposed measures will work in practice, will not introduce new hazards and will sufficiently reduce the remaining risk.
Step 4: Record your findings and implement them
Record the significant hazards, who might be harmed, the precautions already in place and the additional measures needed. Keep the record proportionate to the activity and explain the findings to the people affected in a language they understand.
Put the findings into practice: prioritise the most serious risks, assign each action to someone with the authority and resources to complete it, set deadlines and check completion. Provide any necessary training and confirm that the controls are actually in place; a completed form alone does not make the work safe.
Step 5: Review your assessment and update if necessary
Review the assessment regularly and whenever equipment, substances, procedures or workplace conditions change. Ask workers about problems, check whether controls remain effective and consider lessons from incidents and near misses.
Update the assessment and precautions whenever the review identifies a need. Set and record a review date, but do not wait for that date to address a significant change or an ineffective control.
Practical example: a warehouse delivery area
Pedestrians share a doorway with reversing forklifts. Hi-vis clothing alone does not prevent a collision. A stronger plan may separate routes with barriers, provide a protected crossing and improve the delivery layout and visibility. The supervisor checks how the arrangement works during a busy shift, including visitor access and emergency escape.
Build practical risk assessment skills with SQMI
Explore SQMI risk assessment training or the NEBOSH International General Certificate. Based in Douala, SQMI is a NEBOSH Gold Learning Partner serving learners and employers across Cameroon, CEMAC and West Africa.
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Quick checklist
- Have the people doing the task contributed?
- Are health risks and non-routine work included?
- Are proposed controls installed and usable?
- Does every outstanding action have an owner and deadline?
- Does the team know when to stop and report a problem?
Common questions
- Who should conduct a workplace risk assessment?
- Someone with sufficient knowledge, skills and experience for the activity, supported by workers and specialists where needed. A complex lifting operation or hazardous process requires more specialist input than a straightforward office task.
- Can I use a generic risk assessment template?
- Yes, as a starting point. Adapt it to the actual site, equipment, people and working conditions. Copying another workplace’s assessment without checking the task can miss critical hazards.
- Is risk assessment the same as a job safety analysis?
- They are related. A job safety analysis examines the steps of a particular job; a workplace risk assessment may cover a broader activity or area. Both should lead to practical controls.
Sources and further reading
This article is general guidance for awareness. Apply it through your own site-specific risk assessment and the laws and standards that apply where you work.