How to Complete a Risk Assessment Form

Once you have a risk assessment form in front of you, completing it is straightforward if you take it column by column. This guide walks through each field with a worked example, so you can fill one in correctly for your own job. If you want the background on the law and the method first, read our fuller guide on how to write a risk assessment.

Fill in the header

Start with the basics at the top: your company name, the site or job, the activity being assessed, the date, and who carried out the assessment. This is what a client or inspector checks first, so make it specific to the actual job rather than a generic title.

Work across the columns

1. Hazard. Name the thing that could cause harm, for example working at height, dust, or a power tool.
2. Who might be harmed. List the people at risk, including your operatives, other trades and the public.
3. Existing controls. Write down what you already do to reduce the risk.
4. Likelihood and severity. Score how likely harm is from 1 to 5 and how serious it would be from 1 to 5, then multiply the two for the risk rating.
5. Further action. If the rating is too high, add what more you will do, who owns it and by when.

A worked row

For a tower scaffold job, one row might read: hazard, fall from height; who might be harmed, operatives and public below; existing controls, trained erector and daily inspection; likelihood 2, severity 4, rating 8; further action, add edge protection and a ground level exclusion zone. Repeat a row for each hazard until the job is covered.

Score it with the built in calculator

Our risk assessment template uses a five by five matrix with the scoring built in, plus worked example rows, so you can see exactly how each rating is reached and copy the pattern for your own hazards.