Employers across Africa are dealing with two changes at once. Climate pressures are increasing exposure to extreme heat, flooding, storms, smoke and disease, while the mental health of workers is shaped by job demands, insecurity and the conditions of change. Traditional safety systems tend to treat these topics separately, or leave psychosocial risk to occasional wellness events. The result is gaps in assessment, unclear ownership and costs that surface as absence, accidents and staff turnover.

This programme takes a strategic view. It starts from how risk management standards define hazards and controls, then examines the climate-related risks that affect health and safety at work, from heat illness to disrupted transport and emergency response. It then moves to psychosocial risks, their causes in work design and management practice, and the controls that are most effective. Participants study how the two interact, for example when heatwaves lengthen shifts and fatigue erodes decision making.

The final sessions concentrate on governance: combining findings into a single risk register, setting objectives, allocating resources, measuring results and reporting to leaders. Delivery uses worked assessments, scenario exercises and templates, and each participant builds a plan for their own organisation.

Participants who complete the programme will be able to:

• Identify climate-related hazards that affect health, safety and continuity at work.
• Assess heat stress and set action thresholds, rest schedules and acclimatisation arrangements.
• Recognise psychosocial hazards and their links to job design and management practice.
• Apply ISO 45003 principles and stress risk assessment methods in the workplace.
• Design interventions for harassment, workload, violence and trauma exposure.
• Plan emergency response and business continuity for extreme weather events.
• Integrate both risk streams into one strategic register with owners and indicators.
• Prepare a business case and report for senior leadership and the board.

The programme is for people who carry responsibility for people, risk and operations at a strategic level, including:

• Health, safety and environment managers and directors
• Occupational health nurses and physicians
• Human resource directors and employee wellbeing leads
• Enterprise risk and business continuity managers
• Sustainability and climate adaptation officers
• Site, plant and operations managers in construction, mining and agriculture
• Humanitarian security and duty-of-care advisers
• Trade union and employee relations representatives

Participants leave with:

• A climate hazard map linked to jobs, sites and vulnerable groups.
• A heat management procedure with thresholds and responsibilities.
• A psychosocial risk assessment tool adapted to their workplace.
• A combined risk register with ownership, controls and review dates.
• An outline of an employee support and return-to-work approach.
• A board briefing structure with indicators and a costed action plan.

The course assumes participants already hold some responsibility for risk and works at decision level:

• Facilitated analysis of workplace case files from several industries
• Practical assessment of a heat-exposed job and a high-pressure role
• Scenario simulations combining weather events with staffing pressure
• Template-based building of a risk register and board briefing
• Peer review of each participant's draft strategy

Participants who complete the five days and the practical exercises receive a Certificate of Completion issued by Vision Reach Global Consultancy and CPD-accredited. It can be recorded as continuing professional development in occupational safety, health and risk practice.