Risk assessment for electrical work
- Risk score before controls (likelihood x severity, out of 25)
- 16
- Residual risk score after controls
- 8
- Reduction from the controls, percent
- 50
Every figure on this page is computed from the inputs you enter, by the method stated below it. The only constants DailyLogDesk supplies are the published reporting clocks and assessment steps, each cited where it is used. The defaults are a worked example to replace with your own.
A risk assessment for electrical work by a small contractor: the shock and the burn from working live or from a circuit believed dead, the arc flash at a board, the fire from a fault left behind, the fall from the ladder while working at the light fitting, the cable struck in the wall or the ground, and the other trades who arrive after the isolation. Each is a row with the control, scored before and after, in the template on this site; Pro keeps the assessment with the method statement and the test certificates.
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Isolate, lock off, prove dead
The circuit identified, isolated at the board, locked off with the key held by the person working on it, and proved dead with a tester that was proved on a known live source before and after. That is one row with four controls, and it is scored again with them in place. Live working is a separate row with the justification for it written out, because the default is that it is not done.
The board, the arc and the fire
Work at a live board is an arc flash hazard: the PPE, the insulated tools, the second person, the exclusion of others while the cover is off. The fire row is the fault left behind: the terminations checked, the circuit tested and the certificate issued before it is energised, which is where the test results become part of the assessment's record.
Concealed cables and the work at height
The wall and the ground scanned before drilling or digging, the drawings read, the cable route marked; the light fitting reached from a platform rather than a ladder where the work takes both hands. Each is a row because each has its own control and its own person.
The other trades and the record
The plasterer who arrives after the isolation and the decorator who removes a cover are hazard rows too: the control is the notice at the board, the briefing and the lock. Pro keeps the assessment, the method statement and the test certificates against the project so the whole electrical record is in one place.
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Risk assessment for electrical work: common questions
Is working live ever acceptable?
Only where it is unreasonable in all the circumstances for the conductor to be dead, where it is reasonable to work live and where suitable precautions are taken. The assessment writes that justification out; it is not assumed.
Is the template free?
Yes. The risk assessment template on this site prints the scored assessment with no account; Pro keeps it with the method statement and the certificates.
Do I need a method statement as well?
For anything beyond the simplest task a client or a main contractor will ask for both. The method statement is where the isolation sequence becomes steps the crew follows in order.