Workplace Hazard Identification and Control Basics Training Course

Course overview

Uncontrolled hazards are rarely missed because people do not care; they are missed because observations, task knowledge, maintenance history and worker input are not converted into a consistent assessment and control process. Supervisors, safety practitioners and operational leaders need to distinguish hazards from consequences, recognise routine and non-routine exposure, and document controls that can withstand inspection, incident investigation and operational change. This course provides a practical foundation for making those decisions before harm occurs.

Participants learn a structured hazard identification process for workplaces, equipment, chemicals, manual tasks, work at height, energy sources and contractor activities. They practise job hazard analysis (JHA), workplace inspection techniques, risk matrices, the hierarchy of controls and residual-risk evaluation. The programme also addresses how to select controls that are specific, feasible and verifiable, rather than relying on generic warnings, procedures or personal protective equipment as the default response.

Delivery combines instructor-led explanation with realistic site scenarios, annotated photographs, inspection records, incident case studies and small-group risk assessment workshops. Participants work through an end-to-end assessment of a selected work activity, identifying hazards, rating risks, specifying controls, assigning actions and setting review triggers. They leave with a completed JHA and risk-control action plan that can be adapted for their own department, site or work process.

The course is suited to professionals who already work around operational activities and need a disciplined, common method for identifying and controlling risks. It is particularly useful where organisations want line managers and safety personnel to apply the same terminology, assessment criteria and escalation thresholds.

Course objectives

By the end of this course, participants will be able to:

• Conduct a structured workplace hazard identification walk-through using task, environment, equipment and people prompts
• Differentiate hazards, hazardous events, consequences, exposure routes and existing controls in documented assessments
• Complete a job hazard analysis for routine and non-routine work activities
• Apply a risk matrix to determine initial risk, residual risk and required action priority
• Select control measures using the hierarchy of controls rather than defaulting to PPE or warning signs
• Write clear risk-control actions with accountable owners, due dates and verification criteria
• Evaluate whether controls are effective through inspection evidence, worker feedback and review triggers
• Produce a workplace hazard register and prioritised corrective-action plan for a defined work area

Benefits of attending

Target competencies

Who should attend

• Health and Safety Officers — who must turn workplace observations into defensible risk assessments and control actions
• Supervisors and Team Leaders — who allocate work and need to manage hazards at the point of task execution
• Operations Managers — who are accountable for reducing operational risk without disrupting critical work
• Facilities and Maintenance Coordinators — who manage equipment, contractors and changing site conditions
• HR and Workplace Services Managers — who support safe work arrangements, employee reporting and corrective actions
• Safety Representatives — who need a practical method for raising hazards and reviewing proposed controls

Requirements and prerequisites

Participants should have basic familiarity with their own workplace activities, common equipment, work procedures and reporting routes. Experience in a supervisory, operational, maintenance, facilities or safety-support role is useful because exercises require participants to describe real tasks and exposures. Participants should be able to read simple procedures and use a spreadsheet or document template for recording actions. No prior formal safety qualification, engineering degree, incident-investigation training or specialist risk-analysis software is required. Complete beginners can attend, but should expect to build foundational vocabulary before applying the methods to more complex work.

Training methodology

The five-day programme uses short instructor-led modules followed by applied analysis of photographs, task descriptions, inspection findings and incident narratives. Participants practise identifying hazards individually before calibrating ratings and controls in facilitated groups, mirroring the discussions required between operations and safety personnel. Workshops use JHA forms, risk matrices, control-selection exercises and action registers. Each participant develops an assessment for a real or realistic work activity, receives peer and instructor feedback, and completes an application plan for introducing the method in their workplace.

Course outline

Day 1: Hazard identification foundations

• Hazard, risk, exposure and consequence terminology
• Legal duty concepts and reasonably practicable control
• ISO 45001 hazard identification and risk assessment requirements
• Sources of hazard information in operational workplaces
• Workplace observation techniques and inspection questioning
• Human factors, unsafe conditions and unsafe acts
• Routine, non-routine and emergency work scenarios

Workshop: Participants complete a guided hazard-spotting exercise from workplace photographs and produce an initial hazard observation record.

Day 2: Task-based risk assessment

• Job hazard analysis process and task breakdown
• Identifying hazards at each task step
• Energy sources and hazardous energy release
• Manual handling and ergonomic exposure factors
• Chemical, biological and physical hazard categories
• Contractor and simultaneous-operations interfaces
• Documenting existing controls and control gaps

Workshop: Teams develop a job hazard analysis for a maintenance or operational task and produce a sequenced task-and-hazard worksheet.

Day 3: Risk evaluation and prioritisation

• Likelihood and consequence rating criteria
• Using a 5x5 risk matrix consistently
• Initial risk, residual risk and risk acceptance
• Risk ranking limitations and calibration discussions
• Vulnerable persons and exposure frequency considerations
• Escalation thresholds for intolerable risks
• Building and maintaining a hazard register

Workshop: Participants score a set of JHA hazards, compare rating decisions across groups and produce a prioritised hazard register.

Day 4: Selecting and verifying controls

• Hierarchy of controls decision-making
• Elimination and substitution control options
• Engineering controls and safeguarding principles
• Administrative controls, permits and safe work procedures
• Personal protective equipment selection limitations
• Bow-tie thinking for preventive and recovery barriers
• Control verification through inspection and worker consultation

Workshop: Participants redesign weak controls in a case study and produce a hierarchy-of-controls treatment plan with verification checks.

Day 5: Implementation, review and workplace application

• Writing specific corrective-action statements
• Assigning action owners, dates and resources
• Leading indicators for control implementation
• Review triggers after change, incidents and near misses
• Communicating risk controls through briefings and signage
• Using SafetyCulture iAuditor for inspection follow-up
• Personal workplace hazard-control implementation planning

Workshop: Participants complete and present a workplace hazard register, JHA and 30-day control implementation plan for instructor review.

Tools & standards covered

ISO 45001, ISO 12100, BowTieXP, SafetyCulture iAuditor

A typical training day

Live online deliveries follow the same structure in the East Africa Time zone, with shorter screen blocks and longer breaks.

What the fee includes

How you can take this course

Certification

Participants who complete the full five days receive the Skillset Development Certificate of Completion, stating the course title, course code, dates and delivery format — suitable for professional-development records and employer reimbursement.

Frequently asked questions