RISKS IN CONSTRUCTION
Risk analysis and, or risk management
Definition: Risk is any hindrance likely to obstruct the achievement of the
objective
it is a probability or threat of damage, injury, loss, or any other negative
occurrence that is caused by internal or external vulnerabilities, and that
may be avoided through (mainly)pre action events.
Risk Management process
Risk Management is in five step process:
• Step 1 – Establish the context
• Step 2 – Identify the risks
• Step 3 – Analyse the risks and Evaluate the risks
• Step 4 – Treat the risks
• Step 5 – Monitor and review
Step 1 – Establish the context
• Before risk can be clearly understood and dealt with,
it is important to understand the context in which it
exists. You should define the relationship between
your activities and the environment that they
operate-in, so that, the boundaries for dealing with
risk are clear.
Establish the content by considering:
• The strategic context – the environment within which
the organisation operates – justify the SWOT analysis
• The organisational context – the objectives, core
activities and operation’s of the activities.
Step 2 – Identify the risks
• The purpose of this step is to identify the risk
what could go wrong and what is the
consequence of it occurring.
e.g., certain expertise who is (important) can be
unavailable when needed to execute the task,
what are the consequence(s) of this
absence?.................
Risks can be physical, financial, ethical or legal
• Physical risks are those involving personal injuries,
environmental and weather conditions and the physical
assets of the organisation such as property, buildings,
equipment, vehicles etc.
• Financial risks are those that involve the assets of the
organisation and include loans, license fees, insurance
costs, pay-out of damages claims or penalties and fines
by external party concerned.
• Ethical risks involve actual or potential harm to the soft
aspects - reputation or beliefs of your activities/issues
• legal risks consist of responsibilities imposed on
providers, participants and consumers arising from laws
made by the state and local government authorities.
Step 3 – Analyse the risks (& evaluate)
• This involves analysing (a probability chance of
occurrence) and consequences of each
identified risk and deciding which risk factors
will potentially have the greatest effect and
should therefore receive priority with regard
to how they will be managed
• Risk evaluation involves comparing the level
of risk found during the analysis process and
deciding whether which risks can be dealt
first.
Levels of risk
Extreme
• Extreme risks that are likely to arise and have potentially
serious consequences requiring urgent attention
Major
• Major risks that are likely to arise and have potentially
serious consequences requiring urgent attention and
investigation
Medium
• Medium risks that are likely to arise or have serious
consequences requiring attention
Minor
• Minor risks have low consequences that may be
managed by routine procedures
Step 4 – Treat the risks
• Risk treatment - It is about considering the options for treatment and
selecting the most appropriate method to achieve the desired outcome
• The cost of treatment should be equal with the potential benefits of
treatment.
According to the standard, treatment options include:
• Accepting the risk – for example most people would consider minor
injuries in participating in the sporting activity as being accepted risk.
• Avoiding the risk - is about your organization deciding either not to
proceed with an activity, or choosing an alternative activity with
acceptable risk which meets the goals of your organization
• Reducing or Limiting the risk- depending on its type and size.
• Transfer the risk – Risk that have potential harm to the organisation can
be transferred or shared
Step 5 – Monitor and review
• Monitoring and review ensure that the
important information generated from the
process above is captured, used and
maintained.
RISKS IN CONSTRUCTION SITES
The following are risks from working on construction sites
• Working at height
• Slips and falls
• Moving objects
• Materials and manual handling
• Noise
• Electricity
• Collapsing trenches
