Risk assessment template
- Risk score before controls (likelihood x severity, out of 25)
- 16
- Residual risk score after controls
- 8
- Reduction from the controls, percent
- 50
- Person-hours of exposure a week
- 80
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.
The figures above start from a worked example (16). Change any input and the answer updates as you type.
Download the Risk assessment template worked example (CSV)
This scores a risk assessment the way most construction sites do it: likelihood against severity on a five by five matrix, before the controls and again after them. Enter the hazards identified, the likelihood and severity of the worst one, the likelihood once your controls are in, the people exposed, the hours of exposure a week and the controls you have listed, and the page returns the risk score out of 25, the residual score, the reduction the controls deliver, the person-hours of exposure and the rows the sheet needs. The steps are the Health and Safety Executive's; the scores are yours.
Five steps, and the fourth is the one that gets skipped
The HSE's method is identify hazards, assess the risks, control the risks, record your findings and review the controls. Sites are good at the first three and bad at the fourth: the assessment happens in the supervisor's head on the morning of the task and is never written down, so when the inspector or the insurer asks, there is nothing to show. The page turns the assessment into figures precisely so that it can be recorded, and Pro records it.
Score the worst hazard, not the average
A task with six hazards has one that will hurt somebody. Scoring that one, before and after the controls, is what the matrix is for; averaging the six flatters the task. The page asks for the worst hazard's likelihood and severity and applies the controls to its likelihood, because controls change how likely the harm is far more often than how bad it would be.
Exposure is the multiplier the matrix leaves out
A score of 16 on a task one person does for an hour a month is not the same risk as a score of 16 on a task four people do all week. The page prints the person-hours of exposure beside the score so the two are read together, and so the review date can follow the exposure rather than the calendar.
Risk assessment template: common questions
Is this a free risk assessment template?
Yes: the scores, the reduction and the exposure are computed here for free with no account, and you can print the sheet. DailyLogDesk Pro turns it into the assessment document with your company name on it, files it against the project with the method statement, and reminds you when it is due for review.
What score is acceptable?
That is your policy and your competent person's judgement, which is why the page prints the score rather than a verdict. Many sites treat anything above 15 out of 25 as needing further controls before the task starts, and anything above 9 as needing a supervisor's sign-off. Write the bands into your own policy and apply them to the figure.
How often should a risk assessment be reviewed?
When the job changes, when something goes wrong, and at least once a year for a standing task. The HSE's fifth step is review the controls; Pro puts the review date on the record and reminds you.
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Where the constants in this tool come from
HSE, Risk assessment: steps needed to manage risk. The five steps the page is built around: identify hazards, assess the risks, control the risks, record your findings, review the controls.
Cite or embed this figure
Risk assessment template (Risk score before controls (likelihood x severity, out of 25)): 16, DailyLogDesk, worked example.
Cite as: "Risk assessment template, DailyLogDesk", updated 2026-09-03, https://dailylogdesk.com/tools/risk-assessment/.