How to write a risk assessment: the five steps HSE actually expects

What HSE actually wants from a site risk assessment

If you are searching how to write a risk assessment and you work on the tools, you do not need a law degree. You need something that reflects the job you are about to do, names the hazards that matter and puts controls in place that actually work on your site. The Health and Safety Executive promotes a simple five step approach. Do those steps properly and you are on solid ground.

The legal test is not a fancy form. It is that your assessment is suitable and sufficient under the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999 regulation 3. That means it covers the significant hazards, the people at risk, the controls you will use, and it is proportionate to the job. If you have five or more employees, you must write the significant findings down under the same regulation.

What follows is how to do the classic five steps for construction work, not office life. We will use real site details, the stuff you smell and trip over. Then we will walk a worked example for drilling a fan hole through a brick wall on a wet Tuesday, so you can see what good looks like without puffery.

For what a RAMS document covers and how a risk assessment sits inside it, see What Does RAMS Stand For? RAMS Meaning Explained | RAMS AI.

Step 1 identify hazards on a real site

Do a short walk of the work area. Eyes open, phone away. Smell the cut cement board from the last gang. Feel the wind through the open elevation and the wet patch by the loading bay. Look for live services, fragile edges, trailing leads, poor lighting, stacked materials and suspect covers. Check drawings and permits, but trust what your boots tell you as much as the paper.

Hazards are anything with the potential to cause harm. On construction jobs that might be falls from height, manual handling, silica dust, noise, vibration, moving plant, electricity, sharp edges, cuts, hot works, buried or hidden services, poor access, unstable structures, and weather. Think process hazards from what you are doing, and local hazards from where you are doing it.

Do not forget hazardous substances. Respirable crystalline silica from cutting or chasing masonry is a substance hazardous to health and must be controlled under the Control of Substances Hazardous to Health Regulations. If you are mixing resins or using solvents, that is COSHH too. Note them now. You will pick the controls later.

If you want a simple explainer on making sensible on-the-spot judgements during changing site conditions, read What is a dynamic risk assessment? A plain guide for site trades.

Step 2 decide who might be harmed and how

List the people, not just job titles. Your own operatives, apprentices, agency workers and supervisors. Other trades passing by. Cleaners, delivery drivers and visitors. Occupiers or the public if it is a live building. Then write how each group could be harmed in plain words. Dust inhalation, fall from an unprotected edge, hand caught in a rotating part, struck by a falling socket, electric shock from a nicked cable.

Keep an eye on higher risk individuals. Young persons, new starters, expectant mothers, people with known health conditions and anyone working alone might need tighter controls. If you are working under CDM 2015, coordination matters. Your assessment should reflect the site rules, the traffic plan and exclusion zones set by the principal contractor under CDM 2015.

Where dusts, fumes or chemicals are involved, pair your main assessment with a COSHH assessment, starting with What Is a COSHH Assessment? UK Construction Guide | RAMS AI.

Step 3 evaluate risks and choose sensible controls

Now pick controls using the hierarchy of control. Start by eliminating the hazard if you can. Then look at substitution, engineering controls, administrative controls and lastly PPE. This mirrors the general principles of prevention required by the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999. If you jump straight to dust masks or gloves, you are leaving better options on the table.

Examples make it real. Work at height, avoid it if possible by doing the job at ground level or using extendable tools, then choose the right access system under the Work at Height Regulations 2005. For dust, use on-tool extraction and wet cutting first, then RPE to the right Assigned Protection Factor under COSHH. For power tools, pick low vibration models, rotate tasks and track exposure under the Control of Vibration at Work Regulations. For noise, choose quieter methods and set up barriers and time limits under the Control of Noise at Work Regulations.

Guarding and suitability of work equipment must meet the Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998. If lifting kit or accessories are involved, apply the Lifting Operations and Lifting Equipment Regulations 1998. If there is a risk of striking services, use a CAT and Genny, confirm with drawings and permits, and mark the floor. If hot works are planned, set a permit to work, clear combustibles, and do a fire watch with extinguishers and trained people.

Be specific. Name the model of dust extractor, the filter class, the scaffold bay and lift number, the fall prevention used, the exact RPE type and face fit requirement. Vague controls do not hold up when things go wrong.

Step 4 record the findings so they stand up

If you have five or more employees you must record your significant findings under the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999 regulation 3. Even with fewer, writing it down helps you brief the lads, prove you thought it through and set expectations with the principal contractor. A decent write up is short, specific and job focused.

Include the task and location, the hazards you identified, who could be harmed, the controls you chose in the hierarchy, who is responsible for each control, and residual risks that remain. Add site rules you will follow, permits required, welfare, emergency arrangements, and the training or competence needed. Attach photos, drawings or a sketch if it clarifies the setup.

A risk assessment does not sit alone on most jobs. Many sites will want your method statement with it. Make sure the control measures in the risk assessment are reflected as steps in the method. If you say on-tool extraction is required, the method should say when and how you will use it, and who checks the M-class vac each shift.

Step 5 review and keep it live

A risk assessment is not a one-time job that gathers dust. Review it when something changes. New location, new kit, new people, a different sequence, a near miss, a new material, a permit that has expired or a change in weather that turns a slab into an ice rink. Build review into your daily start up and weekly planning.

Walk the job with the foreman before you start. Check the controls are in place, powered, inspected and adequate. If not, stop and fix it. Keep dynamic risk assessment in your pocket for the day to day judgement calls. It is not a licence to wing it, it is a way to react sensibly to new hazards within the framework you have already agreed.

If an incident or near miss occurs, update the assessment. If HSE guidance or site rules change, update it. If you bring a new subcontractor in, check their assessment lines up with yours. The Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2015 expect cooperation and coordination between dutyholders. Your paperwork should show that in plain sight.

Worked example: core drilling a 150 mm hole through a brick wall

Scene. Live refurb, ground floor plant room wall to external courtyard. We need a 150 mm core for a fan spigot. It is a wet Tuesday, floor slick from deliveries, poor lighting on the far side of the room and other trades moving in and out. The wall has known services nearby at high level. Power is 110 V from a transformer. We have a diamond core drill, stand, water feed, M-class vac and a two person team.

Step 1 hazards. Silica dust from drilling. Water and electricity together. Hand caught by rotating core or snagged clothing. Manual handling of the kit and the wet slurry buckets. Vibration and noise. Strike to hidden services. Falling debris to the outside. Slips on slurry. Poor lighting and trip hazards from hoses and leads. Work at height if we need to reach above shoulder level.

Step 2 who could be harmed and how. Our two operatives by dust inhalation, hand entanglement, vibration, noise and slips. Other trades walking through by trips or dust. Building users in the courtyard by falling debris. Electricians if we strike their cable. The environment if we dump slurry down a drain. A lone cleaner if the job overruns into her shift.

Step 3 controls. Eliminate where possible, choose a location confirmed clear of services using CAT and Genny, check permits and as-built drawings, and mark the wall. Fix the stand with appropriate anchors, never freehand above waist height. Use wet drilling with water feed to suppress dust, capture slurry at source and use an M-class vac for any cleanup under COSHH. Use 110 V tools and a working RCD, keep connections off the floor on drip trays, and route hoses and leads overhead or along one side to avoid trips. Fit a guard and use a drill with a functional clutch under the Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998. Wear suitable RPE if residual dust is possible, hearing protection for the noise, cut resistant gloves for handling the core barrel, eye protection, safety boots and weatherproof layers if working near the external opening. Use task rotation to manage exposure under the Control of Vibration at Work Regulations. Set an exclusion zone outside with a banksman, barrier tape and signage to protect the public. Arrange good lighting. Keep spill kits and a wet vac ready. Dispose of slurry via an agreed method, never to storm drains.

Step 4 record. Write the above into the assessment and match the method statement steps to it. Name who checks the CAT and Genny, who signs the permit, who inspects the RCD, who rigs the stand, who acts as banksman, and who signs off the area clean. Attach a sketch showing the drill position, service avoidance marks and the external exclusion zone.

Step 5 review. On the day, it is raining harder than expected and the courtyard is busy with scaffolders. We pause and extend the exclusion zone, add an extra barrier, and fit covers to keep the drill electrics dry. The M-class vac fails its function check, so we change it out before starting. We date and initial the update and brief the operatives and the site manager.

Questions we get asked

Do I have to do a risk assessment for small jobs?

Yes. Every employer and self-employed person must make a suitable and sufficient assessment of the risks under the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999 regulation 3. Keep it proportionate. A small job will have a short, focused assessment, but you still need to think it through.

When must a risk assessment be written down?

If you have five or more employees you must record the significant findings under the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999 regulation 3. Many principal contractors will ask to see it regardless of headcount. Written records also make briefings and reviews easier.

Who should write and sign the risk assessment?

A competent person who understands the task and the hazards should write it. In small firms that is often the supervisor or manager. The employer is still responsible in law. On site, the person in charge of the work should sign to confirm it reflects how they will actually do the job.

Do I need a method statement as well as the risk assessment?

Often yes, especially on larger or higher risk jobs. The risk assessment sets the hazards and controls. The method statement describes the safe sequence and who does what. Make sure the controls in the risk assessment are built into the method so the team can follow them in order.

How often should I review a risk assessment?

Review whenever something changes or there is a reason to doubt it is still valid. New location, method, kit or people, a near miss, bad weather or a change to site rules are common triggers. Periodic checks during longer jobs help keep it live and aligned with reality.

The short version

HSE expects five steps done properly. Spot the hazards, decide who might be harmed and how, choose controls using the hierarchy, record your findings and review them. The legal test is suitable and sufficient under the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999 regulation 3, and if you employ five or more people you must write the significant findings down.

Keep it site specific, short and useful. Name the kit, the checks and who is responsible. Use the worked example as a template for your own jobs and keep your assessment live as the job changes. That is what stands up on a wet Tuesday and when someone checks your paperwork.