The establishment and growth of the small businesses in South Africa is of vital importance for economic stability and progress in the economy. A key small business management skill comprises occupational health and safety management, with particular reference to the proper identification of safety hazards and safety risks. This conceptual article set out to identify current perceptions about the concepts of safety, safety risks and safety hazards in the workplace while also identifying and analysing misconceptions regarding safety hazards. This article reports on a secondary data analysis of relevant literature on safety hazards and safety risk and the role thereof on small business success. The structure and functioning of the interrelated characteristics of safety hazards were visualised, with the objective of allowing small business owners or managers to understand how safety hazards contribute to safety risks. Proper identification of safety hazards and safety risks, along with adequate protection measures, allows for improved productivity and a reduction in operational costs. Safety hazards in the workplace, encompassing the functional and structural characteristics, such as humans and machinery, should be noted by small business owners, as applicable to all types of businesses. This article may serve as a catalyst for small business success through growth and sustainability by implementing enhanced safety management practices based on an accurate identification and analysis of safety hazards and safety risks. It allows for the identification and proactive mitigation of safety hazards and safety risks in all types of small businesses.

Current theory on safety hazards and the origin of safety risk is often unstructured, misleading and ambiguous. Essentially, it is ambiguous, as definitions and descriptions refrain from stating a formal common basis upon which one can rely to fundamentally and rightfully conclude what a safety hazard is. As a result, it is quite an effort to set a scientifically valid base for precisely what safety hazards are. The objective of this study was to outline the questionable bases of current views on safety hazards and identify the real nature of safety hazards. The characteristics of safety hazards inform the verification of the scientific nature of the different perspectives on safety hazards. Through a quantitative survey, an assessment was performed regarding the cognisance of South African small business owners and managers related to safety hazards. This study found that safety hazards need to unambiguously remain safety hazards under all circumstances in life. Small business owners and managers require further education to develop their cognisance of safety hazards in order to manage the related safety risk. This research has indicated that not all small business owners or managers are compliant with this legal responsibility and that assistance should be provided to small business owners or managers to assist them in realising the importance of safety hazards in the workplace. Proper cognisance of safety hazards leads to enhanced compliance with legislative requirements.

The purpose of this article is to develop a theoretical disaster risk reduction model, creating a virtuous cycle of knowledge and action across the festival and events industry, based on occupational safety and health (OSH) strategic objectives, as informed by a systematic literature review. The main constructs of this conceptual article are explored through a systematic literature review. Sources include publications of key stakeholders in the festival and event industry, applicable global directives, strategic documents of relevant governmental and non-governmental organisations and academic publications. From the data gathered in the systematic literature review it can be surmised that sustainable development goals (SDGs) related research in tourism, festivals, events and OSH is lacking in quantity and there is room for these aspects to be addressed in future research to ensure that these fields of study make a more substantial contribution to disaster risk reduction in festival and event management. This article is limited to secondary data collected through a systematic literature review, supported by additional literature to inform a theoretical framework incorporating SDGs, disaster risk reduction and OSH strategic objectives for festivals and events. Sustainable development goals are aimed at achieving a sustainable future for all. The detrimental effect of OSH incidents can be counterproductive to achieving such goals and should therefore be closely monitored and managed. Festival and event managers should thus take cognisance of the importance of OSH through a plan of action, benchmarked against best practice, to allow for enhanced disaster risk management. This article investigates the concepts of sustainability, disaster risk reduction, OSH, events and festival management and combines the concepts in a unique manner.

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