Environmental Risk Assessments
Understand your environmental footprint before it becomes a liability.
Environmental risk isn't limited to heavy industry. Waste handling, emissions, water use, spills and storage practices carry real legal and reputational exposure for businesses of many kinds. We identify the environmental aspects and impacts specific to your operation and assess them against the National Environmental Management Act (NEMA) and, where relevant, ISO 14001.
Problems this service solves
- No documented understanding of your operation's actual environmental aspects and impacts
- Uncertainty about NEMA duty-of-care obligations that apply to your activities
- Waste, effluent or emissions practices that carry unassessed legal risk
- Gaps that would surface during an ISO 14001 certification or client environmental audit
- No prioritised plan for addressing environmental risk within budget constraints
Who needs this
Key benefits
- 01A clear register of your actual environmental aspects and impacts
- 02Reduced exposure to NEMA-related liability and enforcement action
- 03A practical foundation for ISO 14001 certification, if that's a goal
- 04Improved standing with environmentally-conscious clients and stakeholders
- 05Prioritised, budget-realistic mitigation recommendations
What's included
- Site assessment of environmental aspects (waste, water, emissions, storage, spill risk)
- Impact evaluation aligned to NEMA and, where applicable, ISO 14001 methodology
- Legal register of applicable environmental legislation
- Practical mitigation and management recommendations
- Written environmental risk assessment report
How the engagement works
Site review
We assess your operation's activities, materials and processes for environmental aspects.
Impact evaluation
Each aspect is evaluated for its potential environmental impact and significance.
Legal mapping
Applicable NEMA and related legislation is mapped against your actual activities.
Mitigation planning
Practical, prioritised recommendations are developed for significant impacts.
Report delivery
A complete environmental risk assessment report is provided for implementation and record-keeping.
What you receive
- Environmental aspects and impacts register
- Applicable legal register
- Prioritised mitigation recommendations
You leave with a clear, evidence-based understanding of your environmental risk profile, and a realistic plan to manage it, rather than a compliance obligation you're guessing at.
Frequently asked questions
Is this only relevant to heavy industry?
No. Any business handling waste, chemicals, water discharge or emissions, including smaller operations, can carry NEMA obligations worth understanding.
Do you assist with ISO 14001 certification directly?
This assessment forms a strong foundation for the aspects-and-impacts requirement of ISO 14001. Broader certification support falls under our HSE Consulting service.
What happens after the assessment?
You receive a prioritised mitigation plan you can implement in-house, or we can support implementation as a follow-on engagement.
What specific environmental legislation do you assess against?
NEMA 107 of 1998 (the duty-of-care principle in Section 28, and the environmental management framework provisions), the National Water Act 36 of 1998 (water-use authorisations and discharge standards), the National Environmental Management: Air Quality Act 39 of 2004 (atmospheric emission licences), the National Environmental Management: Waste Act 59 of 2008 (waste-management licensing and the waste hierarchy), and where applicable the National Environmental Management: Biodiversity Act. For ISO 14001 clients, we align the aspects-and-impacts register to the ISO 14001:2026 Clause 6.1.2 requirements, including the new climate-change and biodiversity considerations.
How do you evaluate the significance of an environmental aspect?
We use a significance evaluation methodology aligned to ISO 14001:2026, considering the scale, severity, probability, and duration of the impact, plus legal coverage and stakeholder concern. An aspect that triggers a specific NEMA duty or a National Water Act authorisation is automatically rated significant. We do not rely on a single generic matrix — the criteria are weighted to reflect the specific receiving environment, so a chemical storage area near a watercourse scores differently to one in an industrial zone.
Do you assess Section 24 NEMA reporting obligations?
Yes. NEMA Section 30 requires immediate reporting of incidents that cause or may cause significant pollution or degradation. We check whether your emergency response plan includes the NEMA Section 30 notification procedure, and whether staff know when and how to trigger it. This is one of the most commonly missed environmental obligations we encounter.
Can this assessment support our REI (Residual Environmental Impact) report or EIA?
This is an operational environmental risk assessment, not a statutory Environmental Impact Assessment under NEMA EIA Regulations. However, the aspects-and-impacts register and legal register we produce form a strong foundation for environmental authorisation applications and for the environmental management programme reports that many operations require.
Related services
Legislation and standards we apply
NEMA 107 of 1998 (Sections 28 and 30) · National Water Act 36 of 1998 · NEM:AQA 39/2004 · NEM:WA 59/2008 · NEM:BA 10/2004 · ISO 14001:2026 (Clause 6.1.2) · ISO 14004:2026 · SANS 1029 (waste) · SANS 241 (water) · Carbon Tax Act 15 of 2019 (where applicable)
Practitioner's insight
Many businesses we work with don't realise that NEMA Section 28 imposes a positive duty of care — you are legally required to take reasonable measures to prevent pollution or environmental degradation, and failing to do so is an offence regardless of whether an incident has occurred. We frequently find that the environmental aspects register lists 'waste generation' as an aspect but doesn't identify the specific waste streams (hazardous vs general), their NEM:WA classification, or the licensing status of the disposal site. A waste manifest that goes to an unlicensed site is not a control measure — it is a liability transfer. We also look for the gap between the environmental legal register and the operational reality: if your register lists the Air Quality Act but you have no record of your atmospheric emission licence conditions, the legal obligation is not being managed.
Where we deliver this service
We deliver environmental risk assessments on-site across South Africa, with particular depth in the regions below. Each location page details the local industries, regulatory considerations and HSE risk profile we address in that area.
Written by Chartered SAIOSH-Accredited Practitioners
this environmental risk assessments engagement is delivered by the Hazard Hub Consulting team — Chartered members of the South African Institute of Occupational Safety and Health (SAIOSH) with hands-on field experience across mining, manufacturing, construction, petrochemical, agriculture and the public sector. Our practitioners hold recognised OHS qualifications and maintain continuous professional development through SAIOSH and international bodies including IOSH and the British Safety Council. We work to the OHS Act 85 of 1993, COIDA 130 of 1993, the Mine Health and Safety Act 29 of 1996, NEMA 107 of 1998, and the ISO 45001, ISO 14001 and ISO 31000 management-system standards, and we apply the same evidence-based judgment in this environmental risk assessments engagement that we apply in every engagement: identify the real hazard, reference the specific legal duty, and recommend a control that actually works on the floor.
Chartered SAIOSH Members
Accredited occupational safety and health professionals with current CPD compliance.
Legislation-First Methodology
Every finding and recommendation references the specific statutory duty or standard it derives from.
Independence & Integrity
We do not resell third-party HSE software or take referral commissions. Where we recommend the Hazard Hub platform, it is because it genuinely fits your operation.
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