The Last Risk Assessment Template You Will Ever Need

Our free risk assessment template can be used to identify risks and controls in the workplace. It systematically examines workplace hazards, helps assess injury severity and likelihood, and helps implement control measures to reduce risk. This free risk assessment template was developed based on the leading risk assessment technologies in order to deliver you a top of the line risk assessment form to work from. Just click the button below to download it now!

Benefits of a Risk Assessment Form

A generic risk assessment form can help your company keep a simple record of items such as:

• Who might be harmed by the identified hazard and how
• What you are currently doing to control the risk
• What further actions could be taken to control the risk
• Who should carry out the action

Although this free risk assessment template is useful it is nowhere near as comprehensive as risk assessment software, it is the most effective form you can use on paper for basic risk assessment purposes. Download the free risk assessment here if you did not use the button above.

One of the major downsides to risk assessment templates is that they are not configurable to your company. They offer no customization and can miss details that may be important to your line of work and for that reason they can be less accurate than online configurable risk assessment tools. If you are needing something more comprehensive try our online risk assessment tool.

So Why Use a Risk Assessment Template?

Risk assessment templates offer a quick way to start measuring risk that can be completed in house by safety professionals to support company safety culture in multiple ways.

1. Safety risk assessment forms allow your team to be proactive instead of just reacting to injuries as they happen. Most workplace incidents are preventable so safety risk assessment practices help identify and mitigate those risks. The template allows your company to get started with less effort than developing your own program.
2. Safety risk assessment practices reinforce responsibility and accountability within your company by obligating workers to look out for one another's safety.
3. Safety risk assessment practices promote transparency and collaboration by requiring teams to identify, evaluate, and control operational risks together. Using the template will allow team members to identify potential risks sooner and collaborate on a prebuilt form with easy to follow steps.
4. Prebuilt risk assessment forms allow your company to leverage risk assessment practices on a project to project basis if they do not have the resources or need for a full risk assessment program.

If you are not familiar with the use of risk assessment templates I would recommend reading further to get the most use out of this download. If you are looking for a risk assessment matrix try our free risk matrix.

How to Use a Risk Assessment Questionnaire

This sample risk assessment template is meant to be filled out as such:

1. Fill out the risk assessment template general information (assessment type, assessment name, date, and facilitator(s)) based on your own recordkeeping requirements.
2. Fill out the location data that relates to that iteration of the risk assessment template you are completing. The process department, functional area, and additional location and equipment information is used for filing purposes.
3. The risk identification area of the risk assessment template is used to identify what the risk is and also why it is being measured. This area is used for filing purposes.
4. The severity of consequences area of the risk assessment template needs to be assigned a numerical value based on your current risk assessment methods. If you do not have any methods currently assign the values as 1-5; 1 being the lowest severity such as single minor injury, 2 being multiple minor injuries, 3 being major injury, 4 being multiple major injuries, and 5 being the highest at death. Assign the appropriate value for this specific use of the risk assessment template.
5. The probability area of the risk assessment template should be filled out as follows if you do not already have a methodology-
   1. How many people are exposed to the hazard at a given time- use the actual number of people exposed.
   2. How frequently are people exposed to the hazard in the functional area- determine values from 1-5, 1 being the lowest, 5 being the highest. Assign the appropriate value for this specific use of the risk assessment template.
   3. How long are people exposed to the hazard in the functional area- determine values from 1-5, 1 being the lowest, 5 being the highest. Assign the appropriate value for this specific use of the risk assessment template.
   4. Likelihood of occurrence of initiating event- determine values from 1-5, 1 being the lowest, 5 being the highest. Assign the appropriate value for this specific use of the risk assessment template.
   5. What regulatory enforcement will result from the severity of consequence- based on regulatory body enforcement methods create a scale from 1-5, 1 being the lowest and 5 being the highest. Assign the appropriate value for this specific use of the risk assessment template.
6. The controls specific and targeted to initiating event area of the risk assessment template should be filled out based on the controls that will be implemented for this specific use of the risk assessment template. If other controls have been implemented previously, do not include them in this risk assessment template use.
7. The current controls effectiveness should take into account all controls currently associated with the hazard being evaluated by this risk assessment template. If you do not have a method for scoring control effectiveness determine values from 1-5, 1 being the lowest, 5 being the highest. Assign the appropriate value for this specific use of the risk assessment template.
8. The measuring and monitoring controls area of the risk assessment template is used to take notes on the controls that are being added to the hazard identified in this risk assessment template.
9. The notes area of the risk assessment template is used for any notes associated with the risk assessment being performed that have not been captured as of yet.
10. The calculations area of the risk assessment template is used to find maximum severity, average probability, inherent risk, and residual risk of the hazard identified in this use of the risk assessment template.

To learn more about risk assessment check out our other article The Ultimate Guide to Risk Assessments.

Risk Assessment Recordkeeping

Completing a general risk assessment for a project is a good first step towards better company safety, but its just that, a first step. A good risk assessment program needs a good recordkeeping system to help organize and track hazards, risks, control measures, and corrective and preventative actions. A great program will do more than just meet regulatory requirements, it will help identify hazard trends to proactively improve workplace safety. They provide and easier and more effective way to track risk assessments.

Risk assessment software can replace existing workflows with paper forms and spreadsheets by making safety accessible anywhere at any time. The BasicSafe Risk Assessment software is built with the leading technology from subject matter experts and allows you to:

• Create, complete, and track any type of risk assessment
• Trend changes over time
• Empower teams to access all EHS documents
• Create, complete, schedule, and track corrective and preventative actions associated with the risk assessment process.
• Store unlimited forms and data related to EHS programs
• Save 90% of your time completing all EHS tasks as compared to paper methods or other available software

If you have used this sample risk assessment template and/or may have use for a more comprehensive method click the button below and fill out the contact form to try the BasicSafe Risk Assessment tool.