What is Risk Assessment?
A risk assessment (often called HIRA — Hazard Identification and Risk Assessment) is the process of identifying workplace hazards, evaluating the likelihood and severity of harm, and deciding on controls to reduce that risk. Section 8 of the OHSA requires employers to do this as a basic compliance duty.
Hazard Hub's Risk Assessment tool guides you through that process for your specific industry, drawing on a library of industry-relevant hazards covering 10+ sectors, and produces a structured risk matrix score and a professional PDF report at the end.
It's designed to make a properly structured risk assessment achievable for a business without a dedicated risk specialist on staff, while still producing a document a safety officer or auditor would recognise as genuine, industry-specific work rather than a generic template.
What does it do?
- Guides hazard identification for your specific industry rather than a one-size-fits-all checklist
- Applies a 5×5 risk matrix to score likelihood and severity
- Suggests control measures using the hierarchy of controls (elimination through to PPE)
- Generates a structured, professional PDF report you can file, share or present
- Supports emailing the completed report directly from the tool
How does it help?
- Saves time compared with building a risk assessment from a blank spreadsheet
- Helps make sure hazards relevant to your specific industry aren't overlooked
- Produces a consistent risk scoring approach across assessments and sites
- Gives you a professional, presentable output to share with clients, auditors or your own team
- Makes it easier to keep assessments current by repeating the process when conditions change
Who is it for?
How it works
Select your industry
Choose from 10+ industry categories so the assessment reflects hazards genuinely relevant to your operation.
Work through hazard identification
Identify the hazards present in your workplace or task, guided by the tool.
Score the risk
Rate likelihood and severity for each hazard using a 5×5 risk matrix.
Review suggested controls
See recommended control measures, structured around the hierarchy of controls.
Generate your report
Produce a professional PDF report, and optionally email it directly to yourself or a colleague.
Key features
- 10+ industry-specific hazard categories
- 5×5 risk matrix scoring
- Hierarchy-of-controls-based recommendations
- Professional PDF report generation
- Direct email delivery of completed reports
South African context
Section 8 of the OHS Act 85 of 1993 requires every employer to identify hazards and assess risks to employees in the course of their work, and to take steps to eliminate or mitigate those risks — HIRA is the practical process for meeting that duty. Risk assessments also feed directly into other OHSA compliance areas, including the safety file and toolbox talks. Hazard Hub's tool is built around this South African compliance framework, using ISO 45001-aligned risk methodology rather than a generic international format.
Common HSE challenges this tool can help address
- Risk assessments built from a generic template that doesn't reflect the actual industry or site
- Inconsistent risk scoring between different people doing assessments
- Risk assessments that are done once and never reviewed again
- No professional, presentable output to show a client or auditor
- Time-consuming manual assessment processes that get skipped under pressure
Frequently asked questions
What is a risk assessment tool?
It's software that guides you through identifying workplace hazards, scoring the associated risk, and recording control measures — producing a structured report instead of a blank document you have to build from scratch.
What is HIRA?
HIRA stands for Hazard Identification and Risk Assessment — the structured process of identifying hazards and assessing the risk they pose, required under Section 8 of the OHS Act.
Is a digital risk assessment legally valid?
Yes, provided it's a genuine, competently completed assessment of your actual hazards. The format — digital or paper — isn't what makes it compliant; the quality and relevance of the assessment is.
Can I use the same risk assessment for every project?
No — each workplace and task has its own hazards, and OHSA compliance requires assessments to reflect actual conditions. The tool is built to help you produce industry-relevant assessments quickly, not to let you copy one assessment everywhere.
How often should a risk assessment be reviewed?
General guidance is at least annually, and whenever there's a significant change to your process, equipment, materials or site — or after an incident.
Does using this tool guarantee compliance?
No software can guarantee legal compliance on its own. The tool helps you produce a structured, industry-relevant risk assessment; a competent person still needs to ensure it genuinely reflects your workplace.
Professional support
If you'd like an independent, experienced set of eyes on your risk assessment — or don't have the in-house capacity to do it thoroughly — Hazard Hub Consulting offers professional risk assessment services delivered on-site by Chartered SAIOSH-accredited practitioners. professional risk assessment support.
Stay connected for HSE insights, updates and compliance news.