Read our publication Five Steps to Risk Assessment. This tells you how to do a risk assessment for occupational health and safety. This is not the only way to do a risk assessment, you can now use the Risk Assessment and Policy Template. This template brings together your risk assessment, health and safety policy and record of health and safety arrangements into one document to help you get started and save you time. If you already have a health and safety policy you may choose to simply complete the risk assessment part of the template. We also have a number of example risk assessments to show you what a risk assessment might look like. If your industry is not listed, pick the one closest to it and use it as a guide for completing the template, adapting it for your own workplace. You can print and save the template so you can review and update it as and when required.

There are also other methods that work well, particularly for more complex risks and circumstances. However, we believe these methods are the most straightforward for most organisations.

A risk assessment will only be effective if you and your staff act on it. It is important that you follow through with any actions required and review it on a regular basis.

We also have an example health and safety policy, this illustrates what you need to think about and include, should you choose to complete the policy section of the template.