Health and safety documents are, for a small contractor, six things, and only one of them is named by the law. The risk assessment is: Regulation 3 of the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999, cited below, requires every employer to make a suitable and sufficient assessment of the risks to the health and safety of their employees, and regulation 3(6) requires an employer with five or more employees to record the significant findings and any group of employees especially at risk. The method statement, the RAMS that combines the two, the incident report, the toolbox talk record and the daily site log are the industry's ways of showing the assessment was applied, the work was briefed, and what happened. Each has a free tool on this site; this page is the index.
The one the law names: the risk assessment
Suitable and sufficient, recorded where there are five or more employees, reviewed when things change. The HSE's guidance, cited below, gives risk assessment as five steps: identify hazards, assess the risks, control the risks, record your findings, review the controls, and says that if you employ 5 or more people you must record your significant findings. The risk assessment template on this site prints it; it is the document an inspector asks for first.
The method statement and the RAMS
How the work is done with the controls applied, and the two together as the document a principal contractor approves under CDM. The risk assessment and method statement tool on this site builds both from the assessment's figures.
The incident report and the toolbox talk
The incident report records what happened, to whom, and what was done, and is where the RIDDOR question is answered. The toolbox talk record shows the crew were briefed on a hazard on a date. The incident report template on this site prints the first; the RAMS sign-on sheet covers the second.
The daily site log
Who was on site, what was done, the weather, the deliveries, the visitors and the problems, every day. It is the document that answers the question a year later. The daily activity report on this site prints it; DailyLogDesk Pro keeps all six against the job.
Questions people ask about health and safety documents
Do I need all six with two employees?
The risk assessment, yes, in every case; recording it becomes a legal duty at five employees. The rest are what a client or a site will expect.
What does software add?
Keeping the documents against the job, signed and dated, so the evidence exists when asked. From the vendors' own pricing pages, cited below: SafetyCulture lists its Premium plan at $29 per seat per month billed monthly or $24 billed annually, with a free plan for small teams; Contractor Foreman lists its Basic plan at $49 per month for one user. DailyLogDesk Pro is $29 per month for the whole site team.
Are the tools free?
Yes, every tool under /tools works without an account.