What Is a Risk Assessment? (UK)

A risk assessment is a written check of what in your work could cause harm and what you are doing to prevent it. It is the single most common health and safety document in the UK, and if you employ anyone the law expects you to have one. This guide explains what it actually is, in plain terms.

The simple definition

A risk assessment is the careful examination of what, in your work, could harm people, so that you can weigh up whether you have done enough to prevent harm or need to do more. It is not about creating huge amounts of paperwork. It is about identifying the real risks and putting sensible measures in place to control them.

Why the law requires one

The duty comes from the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999, which sit under the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974. Every employer must make a suitable and sufficient assessment of the risks to workers and to anyone else affected by the work. If you have five or more employees you must record the significant findings in writing. Smaller firms should still write it down, because clients and principal contractors almost always ask to see it.

What it must contain

A good assessment names the hazards, says who could be harmed and how, records the controls already in place, and sets out anything more that needs doing, by whom and by when. Many firms add a simple risk score before and after controls so the level of risk is clear. It should be specific to your work, not a generic form copied from the internet.

Who has to carry it out

The employer is responsible, but the assessment should be done by someone competent, usually the person who understands the work and the hazards. For most trades and small firms that is the owner or a supervisor. Complex or high risk work may need specialist input.

How to get started

The clearest way to learn the method is our guide to writing a risk assessment, which walks through the five steps with a worked example. Our risk assessment template gives you the format ready to fill in, with the scoring laid out and example rows to follow.