Risk assessment template
A risk assessment records the hazards in your workplace, who could be harmed and how, what you already do about them, and what else needs doing, by whom and by when. This free Word template uses the same columns as the Health and Safety Executive's (HSE) template, plus space for groups especially at risk and a review record.
Running a company of 30 to 200 people? Documents like this are now worth money.
In Great Britain every employer must assess the risks from its work, and an employer with five or more employees must write down the significant findings.
What's in the template
Risk assessment
| Company name | |
|---|---|
| Site, area or activity covered | e.g. workshop, vans and customer sites |
| Assessment carried out by | Name and job title |
| Date assessment was carried out | |
| Date of next review | Review sooner after any significant change |
| Who was consulted | Staff and safety representatives involved |
| Findings shared with staff | How and when, e.g. team briefing, noticeboard |
One row per significant hazard.
Give every further action a named person and a date, and tick Done when it is complete.
1. Hazards, controls and actions
| What are the hazards? | Who might be harmed and how? | What are you already doing to control the risks? | What further action do you need to take to control the risks? | Who needs to carry out the action? | When is the action needed by? | Done |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Example: slips in the yard in wet or icy weather | Staff and delivery drivers: sprains or fractures from falls | Yard gritted on frosty mornings; lighting on timers | Paint a marked walkway from the gate to reception | Facilities manager | ||
2. Groups especially at risk
With five or more employees, you must record any group identified as especially at risk.
| Group | Why their risk is higher | Extra measures |
|---|---|---|
| Young workers (under 18) | ||
| New or expectant mothers | ||
| Migrant workers | ||
| Workers with disabilities | ||
3. Review record
| Date reviewed | Reviewed by | Trigger (scheduled, change, accident, near miss) | Changes made |
|---|---|---|---|
How to do a risk assessment
- Decide what it covers. One assessment may do for a small office; a workshop, a warehouse and a van fleet usually need one each. Walk round with the people who do the work.
- Identify the hazards. Look at how people work, how equipment is used, which substances are present and the state of the premises. Check accident and ill-health records, and include maintenance, cleaning, manual handling and work-related stress.
- Decide who might be harmed and how, including contractors, visitors and the public, and anyone especially at risk, such as young workers or new and expectant mothers.
- Record your existing controls, then decide what more is needed. Can you remove the hazard altogether? If not, HSE's options run from redesigning the job or replacing the material, machine or process, through organising work to reduce exposure, to protective equipment last.
- Give each action a person and a date. The test is what's "reasonably practicable": the level of risk weighed against the money, time and trouble of controlling it.
- Review it when staff, processes, substances or equipment change, after an accident or near miss, and when workers raise a problem.
Example: a fictional 40-person kitchen fitting company
From the assessment for a fictional firm with a worktop workshop and installers who work in customers' homes.
| Hazard | Who might be harmed and how | Already doing | Further action | Who |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lifting worktops and appliances | Installers and workshop staff: back injuries, trapped fingers | Two-person lifts; trolleys and suction lifters in every van | Manual handling refresher for the three newest installers | Operations manager |
| Wood dust from cutting and sanding | Workshop staff and cleaners: breathing problems, skin irritation | Saws connected to extraction; dust vacuumed, never swept | Write a COSHH assessment for wood dust; book the extraction system's thorough examination | Workshop supervisor |
| Working alone in customers' homes | Solo installers: injured with nobody to raise the alarm | Call to the office at lunch and at the end of each job | Write down what happens when a call is missed | Operations manager |
Its group especially at risk: 16 and 17-year-old apprentices, who now work alongside a named fitter for their first six months.
Common mistakes
- Copying someone else's assessment. HSE warns that putting your company name on an example would not satisfy the law.
- Hazards with no "how". "Electricity" says nothing; "shocks from damaged leads on the site radios" points straight at the fix.
- Controls that are really hopes, such as "staff to take care". A control is something that exists: a guard, a procedure, a check.
- Actions with no name or date, which reappear unchanged at every review.
What the law says (UK and US)
UK. Regulation 3 of the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999 requires every employer in Great Britain to make a suitable and sufficient assessment of the risks to its employees and to others affected by its business, and to review it if it may no longer be valid or after a significant change. Employers with five or more employees must record the significant findings and any group of employees identified as especially at risk. Northern Ireland's 2000 regulations have the same recording rule.
US. OSHA's Recommended Practices for Safety and Health Programs cover the same ground: gather hazard information, inspect, investigate incidents, and rank hazards by severity, likelihood and how many workers are exposed. Some standards need a written record: the general industry PPE standard (29 CFR 1910.132(d)) requires a written certification that the hazard assessment was done.
Frequently asked questions
Do I have to write my risk assessment down?
In Great Britain, yes if you employ five or more people. With fewer than five you must still assess the risks, but the law doesn't require a written record; writing it down anyway makes it much easier to review.
How often should a risk assessment be reviewed?
The regulations set no fixed interval. Review it when it may be out of date or after a significant change, and check regularly that the controls work. Setting a next review date stops it being forgotten.
Who should carry out the risk assessment?
You can do it yourself or appoint a competent person to help. In most low-risk businesses a manager who knows the work, with the staff who do it, is enough; bring in a specialist for complex hazards.
Whoever writes it, the duty stays with the employer, and this template is a starting point rather than legal advice.
Sources
- HSE: Managing risks and risk assessment at work
- HSE: Steps needed to manage risk
- HSE: Risk assessment template and examples
- legislation.gov.uk: Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999, regulation 3
- legislation.gov.uk: Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2000, regulation 3
- OSHA: Hazard identification and assessment
- OSHA: 29 CFR 1910.132, personal protective equipment (hazard assessment)