Speaker 1: Hello everybody, Delene here. Today I'm going to talk to you a little bit about baseline risk assessment. Risk assessment is a fundamental process in occupational health and safety management. It involves identifying potential hazards in the workplace, evaluating the risks associated with the hazards and implementing measures to control or mitigate those hazards. The importance of risk assessment cannot be overstated. It is essential for creating a safe working environment, preventing accidents and ensuring compliance with legal requirements. In South Africa, the Occupational Health and Safety Act significantly emphasises risk assessment as a critical tool for safeguarding the workplace. The Act mandates employees to conduct risk assessments and implement necessary controls to minimise occupational hazards. It serves as the cornerstone of proactive health and safety management in our work environments. There are three primary methods of conducting risk assessments. There's the continuous risk assessment, issue-based risk assessment and the baseline risk assessment. Each method has its specific applications and outcomes. The continuous risk assessment involves regular monitoring and assessment of the workplace to identify new risks and review existing control measures. It is an ongoing process that ensures the safety measures are effective and up to date. Checklists are often commonly used on a daily, weekly or monthly basis. A beneficial form of risk assessment are checklists. Then we have issue-based risk assessment. Issue-based risk assessment is undertaken in response to specific issues or changes in the workplace. It might be triggered by specific tasks in the workplace, the introduction of new equipment or processes or following an incident. This type of assessment is focused and addresses particular risks associated with the issue at hand. The layout could take on a step-by-step format. Baseline risk assessment, which is our primary focus today, is a comprehensive evaluation conducted to establish a baseline of risk levels against which future assessments can be measured. It is a high-level assessment of resource risks. It must be emphasised that the baseline is an initial risk assessment that focuses on a broad overview to determine the risk profile of the company which will be used in subsequent risk assessments. A baseline risk assessment focuses on the identification of risks that applies to the whole organisation or project. It involves a thorough examination of all aspects of the workplace to identify potential hazards, for example, people hazards, equipment hazards, policies, procedures, processes hazards, material hazards, environment hazards, both macro and micro, legal and finance hazards. So what exactly is a baseline risk assessment? A baseline risk assessment sets the standard for an organisation's risk management process. The Occupational Health and Safety Act requires that such an assessment be comprehensive and systematic. It begins by establishing what is legally required and what best practice dictates for your specific industry. This includes understanding the scope of work, the existing health and safety policies, the inherent hazards of the operations and the current controls measures in place. It is crucial to know both the Act and the regulations pertinent to your sector, such as the Occupational Health and Safety Act, the Mine Health and Safety Act. Remember, it is a high-level assessment of resources risks. As mentioned just now, for example, people, equipment, policies, procedures, processes, materials, environment, legal and finance, I actually like using the acronym PIPMALF. I find it helps me focus and identify risks which I may have missed without using the acronym. But first, let's delve into the critical five steps of the risk assessment process. Let's begin with step one, that is that orangey colour on the left, the top left. Step one, identifying the risk. In any organisation, it's crucial to recognise the variety of risks present. For example, legal, environmental, market, regulatory risks, amongst others. The goal here is thoroughness, and they should become transparent and accessible to all relevant stakeholders. Moving to step two, that yellowy colour to the right, analysing the risk. So once a risk is identified, we must assess its scope and impact on various organisational factors, facets. This analysis ranges from minor inconveniences to threats that could halt operations entirely. Step three, bottom left, bottom right. This involves evaluating or assessing the risk. It's about prioritisation. Risks are categorised by severity from low impact to those warranting immediate attention. This step also encompasses both qualitative and quantitative risks. Qualitative, though subjective, requires standardisation, while the quantitative is common in financial sectors, focuses on numerical data, and is generally more objective. Step four, the middle bottom blue. Step four is now treating the risk. The aim here is mitigation or containment. Finally, step five, monitoring and reviewing the risk. Some risks, like market or environmental risks, are perpetual and require ongoing vigilance. While traditional methods rely on diligent personnel, digital systems offer continuous, automated monitoring, contributing significantly to business continuity. Understanding and implementing these five steps of the risk assessment process is vital for any organisation, particularly in adapting to unique challenges and regulations within South Africa. This systematic approach not only ensures compliance, but also fosters a proactive culture of safety and risk awareness. In step one, we identify hazards and or other exposures. With that previous diagram in mind, let's start looking at the baseline risk assessment. Often, the senior safety team participate in extrapolating, gathering, and preparing information from various sources in their workplace. One such source could be, for instance, identifying physical, mechanical, electrical, ergonomical, chemical, biological, and even psychosocial hazards. Preparation involves gathering all existing information on hazards, incidents, and the efficacy of current control measures. This documentation could include previous risk assessments, incident reports, safety audits, and inspections. It is also important to consult with workers and safety representatives as they offer invaluable insights into everyday risks and the reality of safety procedures effectiveness. The scope of risk identification can be very wide and could include regulatory compliance, workers' health and safety, process and design safety, hazardous exposures, public safety, major hazardous installations, even economic loss eliminations and environmental impacts. It might be useful to have a look at that example of a spreadsheet, the titles of the spreadsheet that one could use. You will see that the spreadsheet goes across in various columns and we start off at the top and we look at our various, maybe our various departments, and then going across we look at the PEPMALF baseline report. Now, if you can imagine, if we go down into the rows, we would start off and say, in that particular column, we will identify the first P, the people, and we would make a list with the help or the assistance of our various departments and our various people of all of the people attached to a specific department. Then we would look at the equipment in the next section and we would look at all of the equipment attached to that specific department. Then we would look at the policies, procedures and processes in that department, materials, the environmental, then the legal and legislative, and then finally the finance. So we start developing, we start building on the risk assessment on this spreadsheet. Nevertheless, in preparation of the baseline risk assessment, one would now collect relevant safety manuals, incident reports, compliance guidelines to inform the risk assessment. So your team involved must be adequately trained so that their input is valuable and relevant to the task. Let's not forget that during the assessment the team must, if necessary, make sure all necessary safety gear is available and that the team members know how to use it, for example, using respirators in a dusty environment, as well as organizing the practical aspects of the assessment, like scheduling and resources allocation. It is best to actively search for and note potential dangers which may have to meet certain standards, be they internal or otherwise. Eventually a comprehensive document, that spreadsheet I was showing you, can be compiled that outlines all identified hazards, you know, all of the people, all of the equipment, all of the and so on and so on, as we go down the rows. So it outlines all the identified hazards, then we come across and identifies their risks, their likelihood, their severity and frequency. Various methods can be used to promote the identification of risks, such as surveys, we could use questionnaires, inspections, records, financial statements, brainstorming with subject matter experts. Again, a useful method of focusing a brainstormed baseline risk assessment is by using that acronym PEPMALF, as mentioned before. Just to recap on the PEPMALF resources we referred to, and just have a look at the bottom of this slide, where we showed you beforehand on a previous slide, the titles running across the columns. So going downwards, going down the rows, we would start off by having the people, such as employees, the contractors, the agents, the visitors, the public, who would be at risk in that specific organization, that specific department, that specific project. Then the next rows would deal with the E, which would be the equipment, plant, machinery we're listing, equipment, aids, PPE, tools, all of those related to that department or that project. Then the next rows down, we're looking at the processes, procedures, and policies. We will fill all of those in. Then the materials, then the environment, the site location, the layout, macro, micro environments, and then legal and liability, compliance acts, standards, contracts, financial, and then the financial income, expenditures, and cash, and so on. So that is now going down the rows, and then coming across, we identify the potential hazards, and then we now say, what is the probability? What is the probability on a scale of one to five? In the next column, we will then list, for example, the potential consequences. In the next column across, the severity, which is also a value if we are doing a quantitative. So we multiply the one by the other, and we get our ranking. Our far column gives us, or we should be inputting with the help of our subject matter experts or our higher level staff, what the existing measures are in place or what should be in place. Coming back to our step two, we start analyzing the risk to assess its scope and impact on various organizational facets. So once a risk has been identified, we must assess its scope and impact on various organizational facets. This analysis ranges from minor inconveniences to threats that could halt operations entirely. In order to prepare certain assessments, it could require the input, as I said before, of specific persons with higher levels of knowledge and competence in areas of expertise. This revolves around using terms appropriate to the type of risk assessment and types of risk evaluation we do. We use terms like likelihood, or frequency, or probability, and consequences, or severity, or impact, and also even exposure. So looking down the bottom again, you will see how we have come across. We started off with, under that block where it says PEPMALF, identified the people, the equipment, policies, procedures. Then we identified the potential hazards or exposures. Then we said, well, how probable would it be? And we ranked it. And then if we could not achieve that, what would the potential consequences be? And then in that column next to that is the severity. How bad would it be? How severe would it be? And we rank that, multiply the one by the other. And at the end, as I said before, that is where we put our controls in place. So this exercise will produce a risk score, which will inform the assessor as to how controls should be implemented. Of course, one must understand the process, which involves comprehending how to identify potential hazards in a workplace in the first place, and then to assess their risk. The Act lists many definitions and various applications. One needs to be familiar with key terms like hazard and risk and understand how they apply in different contexts, such as in the context of people and in the context of equipment and process, et cetera. You know, your PEPMALF? Then, knowing how to prioritize and apply control measures effectively, not only identifying hazards, but also understanding the protocols for addressing them. In the last column of our risk assessment matrix, this is where we initiate remedial action. Upon identifying risks, immediate action must be taken to reduce them to acceptable levels. This could involve implementing the hierarchy of controls. Elimination is to physically remove the hazard. Substitution is to replace the hazard. Engineering controls is to isolate people from the hazard, often using engineering controls. Administrative controls is to change the way people work, and PPE is to protect the worker with personal protective equipment. Of course, we try to mitigate and control before we issue PPE. It is also necessary to document any deviations from standard practices and ensure that corrective measures align with operational policies and procedures. In determining the most effective way to mitigate the identified risks, it is necessary to document all findings and actions taken, and ensuring that these are communicated to the appropriate authorities or management for further action. The final step is monitoring and reviewing the risks, and reviewing the risks. Understanding and implementing these steps of the risk assessment process is vital for any organization, particularly in adapting to the unique challenges and regulations within South Africa. This systematic approach not only ensures compliance, but also fosters a proactive culture of safety and risk awareness. Many people should already be carrying out high risk. Those are your hazard identification and risk assessments. And on a day-to-day basis, as part of their daily supervisory duties, they should be carrying out continuous risk assessments. However, the Occupational Health and Safety Act requires that this process be systematic, with the results being recorded, and that risk improvements recommendations be implemented. These risk assessments must be documents or records, and they should be monitored and reviewed to ensure the controls applied are for effective or need to be changed and revised if necessary. This is Delene Sheesby, and thank you for spending a bit of time with me while I briefly introduced you to the baseline risk assessment process. I also hope that this short video has given you insight into what a baseline risk assessment course can offer you and your risk assessment teams. If you wish to arrange risk assessment training for your group, please don't hesitate to contact me. Details are on this slide. Well, looking forward to seeing you soon. Bye for now.