Unit 2: Identification

2.4 Assessing risk; conducting a situational analysis.

We have covered a number of different factors that affect ‘risk’ and how it is perceived. Here we discuss the methodologies that can be used to effectively conduct a formal assessment of these risks.

A decorative image depicting a flat surface with a question mark printed on it. A magnifying glass is laid partially over the question mark.

Staying with the case study of ABC University, undertaking a ‘situational analysis’ can help to understand the context that the research team will be working in.

We already know that the external factors of drought and displacement have made all community members vulnerable. Using this as a backdrop, we then take a gendered approach to highlight specific vulnerabilities.

Activity 2.6 Situational analysis template

Allow 30 minutes

Complete the blank situational analysis template for the case study of ABC University.

Here is a writable version of this situational analysis template shown below. You can type into this PDF form and then save it and/or print it.

A blank situational analysis template. The table has three columns and five rows. The first column header is persons in the community (by age and gender). The second column is List all vulnerability factors. The third column is list the safeguarding risks (do you consider them low, medium or high risk?). The five row headers under the first column are women, girls, boys, men, LGBTQI.

An example of a completed situational analysis is shown below for comparison.

Situational analysis – context: A displaced community due to drought

Here is a PDF version of this model situational analysis shown above.

You can learn more about undertaking a situational analysis by following the link below:

Understanding your context using a situational analysis, Grassroots Collective

Risk Assessments

We should also develop a safeguarding risk assessment based on the situational analysis. You may remember that we learnt about such risk assessments in Course 1: Introduction to Safeguarding in the International Aid Sector.

Still using the example of the ABC University research case study, let’s go through three quiz questions so that you can try and recall how to undertake a safeguarding risk assessment exercise.

Activity 2.7 Identifying risks (Quiz)

Quiz rules

Quizzes within the learning content do not count towards achieving your Digital Badge/Statement of Participation. Only the quiz at the end of each unit counts towards achieving your Statement of Participation.

You may take as many attempts as you wish to answer the quiz. You can skip questions and come back to them later if you wish.

Enter quiz

How to undertake a risk assessment

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SPEAKER: A risk assessment is a systemic process of evaluating dangers that may occur when undertaking an organisational activity. A safeguarding risk assessment is one of the most useful tools to use when you want to prevent harm to people from occurring. It helps you think about all the possible harm that may occur to people who have direct or indirect contact with your organisation. The risk assessment includes several parts to it. Here, we have added seven parts, but you may want to add more depending on the context you’re working in. Think of risk to people. For example, you may be holding an event for young mothers, many of whom have suffered from sexual violence. The event will be supported by volunteers.

You want to ensure that the young mothers and their children are safe during the activity from any form of further harm. Step two, likelihood. In the next column of the risk assessment, you want to assess the risk of harm occurring if you don’t put any measures in place. The score could be out of five. The more vulnerable the persons are that you’re working with, the higher the risk, which then means the higher the score. Step three, impact. In the next column, you’re going to gauge the impact of that harm on the persons involved in the activity. The greater the impact of harm, the higher the score. Step four, gross risk.

In the next column, you would multiply the score that you gave the likelihood with the one in impact to give you the gross risk. Step five, mitigation. Here you’ll need to think about safeguarding measures that can be taken to mitigate or reduce the gross risk. The higher the gross risk, the more measures will need to be taken. For example, you could ensure that robust recruitment procedures are in place for the volunteers who will be involved in the activity in our example. You could ask candidates safeguarding questions during the interview, make background checks, verify the referees and the references provided, and do police checks to ensure that they don’t have any past criminal convictions. Step six, recalculate gross risk.

If these mitigation measures are taken, have you lowered the likelihood and/or the impact? If so, put in new scores for likelihood and impact and recalculate your gross risk. Step seven, by whom, when? It’s important to add in who will take charge of the mitigation measures and when this will be done. Risk assessment should be completed with key stakeholders as a joint effort. Risk assessments are dynamic. They should be reviewed regularly to take into account change of circumstances. Risk assessments can be used for any organisational activity to prevent harm to your staff, representatives, and to people who benefit from your programmes.

As a reminder on how to undertake a safeguarding risk assessment watch the video above.

Developing a risk assessment

An illustration of three cubes stacked on top of each other. the bottom cube is red and has a sad emoticon face printed on it. The second cube is yellow and has a neutral face on it. The top cube is green and has a smiley face printed on it.
_{© Panuwat Dangsungnoen / iStock / Getty Images Plus}

When undertaking a risk assessment for the research project being conducted by ABC University, here are some key points to think about:

A risk assessment should be carried out with input from local collaborative partners and community members so that external risks and vulnerabilities are also taken into consideration.
A risk assessment must identify and record all risks of intended or unintended harm. It should not only consider risks to research participants, but also risks to researchers.
Mitigation safeguarding measures should be proposed and put in place.
A risk analysis must differentiate between short-term risks (for example, immediate dangers that could arise during the fieldwork) and long-term risks (for example, participants’ future eligibility to access benefits when a programme is implemented).
A risk analysis should include considerations on how to ensure participants’ confidentiality for safety or legal reasons and put in place a protocol for this.
The names and contact details of both the research team and the safeguarding focal points should be clearly stated in the risk analysis.
The risk analysis should be signed off by team leaders and the Safeguarding Lead.

A risk assessment should be continuously updated throughout the course of a research project. If it emerges that the research carries a higher risk for any one group or person than was initially thought, then it should be redesigned to address and reduce those risks. If this is not possible, the research cannot go ahead.

Activity 2.8 Developing mitigating safeguarding measures

Return to the case study of ABC University and reflect on the following:

Having identified the safeguarding risks to research participants in the situational analysis, what are some of the mitigating safeguarding measures you would advise the research team to undertake?
Identify any safeguarding risks to the research team members. What measures might reduce these risks?

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If you want to learn more about risk assessment have a look at the following links:

Safeguarding risk assessment and management tool (PDF) Safeguarding Resource and Support Hub
Research Ethics: A practical guide Oxfam GB
Addressing Safeguarding Risks Safeguarding Resource & Support Hub