Free Excel Risk Assessment Template

At the bottom of the page, you will find a free blank template for health and safety risk assessment available for download. This template consists of six pages, including a cover page, a page outlining the methodology for health and safety risk assessment, a page dedicated to the evaluation of occupational risks, as well as a page to define an occupational risk schedule plan through various collective and/or individual preventive measures. This document will enable you to both inventory the health risks faced by your company's employees and, additionally, create a planned approach to prevent these risks. The goal is to identify all the risks present in your company, and for each risk, find appropriate protective measures to preserve the health and safety of your employees.

Free Risk Assessment Template - Cover Page

Free Risk Assessment Template - Company information

Free Risk Assessment Template - Risk Prevention Schedule

Free Risk Assessment Template - Cover Page

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Extract from our free blank health and safety risk assessment template available for download at the bottom of this page.

Why a free blank risk assessment template?

This free blank health and safety risk assessment template addresses two extremely common questions from business owners as well as from their administrative services:

1) What does a health and safety risk assessment look like?

2) What is included in it?

To better answer these questions, we have also included an example of a hazard and risk that is already filled out and is relevant to all companies: contamination by Covid-19.

What is the content of this free risk assessment template?

The content is almost identical to what you will find in our sector-specific risk assessments, as well as in our custom risk assessments:

_ A front cover with an illustration that can be used as a jacket if printed in paper format.

_ A title page with information about your company that you will need to complete.

_ A page describing the method for evaluating health and safety risks in the document, which will allow you to evaluate each of your risks.

_ A page for the evaluation of occupational risks (the most important part of your occupational risk assessment).

_ A page for the prevention of occupational risks with a prevention schedule, allowing you to define what collective or individual protective measures need to be implemented, and by what deadline.

What does the risk assessment part of this template contain?

The health and safety risk assessment portion of this document contains 13 columns to be filled out. Here are the different columns and the information to be entered:

Work Unit: Work units are groups of employees who share common risks. Defining work units allows you to evaluate risks separately for each task, role, or workstation in your company.

Risk Family: These are broad categories into which your various risks will fall. Among these different families, we notably count: physical risks, chemical risks, biological risks, psychosocial risks, road risks, fire/explosion risks. (Each of these major families can be divided into sub-families. For example, the sub-family of radiological risks is part of the physical risks family.)

Hazard Source: This refers to the risky situation you have identified in your company. Here are some examples of hazard sources: same-level falls, repetitive motions, manual handling, etc.

WARNING: Do not confuse Hazard and Risk!
These two terms are distinct and are defined in accordance with Health and Safety Executive standards.

Hazard --> This refers to potential sources of harm or adverse health effects on a person or persons (e.g., repetitive motions).

Risk --> These are the actual adverse health effects or injuries that may result from exposure to a hazard (e.g., muscle pain)

Why?: In this column, you will need to explain why the identified hazard could harm workers' health.

When?: In this column, you will need to specify when or under what conditions workers are most exposed to this hazard.

Possible Risks: In this column, you should detail the essence, and if possible, the full range of health and safety risks that could result from the identified hazard.

Likelihood: This refers to the probability that workers will encounter this hazard. Four options are available: highly likely, likely, possible, almost impossible. (In our paid documents, the selection of likelihood is done via dropdown menus for speed and efficiency.)

Exposure: This pertains to how often workers will face this hazard. This is an estimate, not an absolute truth. Four options are available: once a day, once a week, once a month, once a year. (In our paid documents, the selection of frequency of exposure is done via dropdown menus for speed and efficiency.)

Severity: This refers to the most severe consequence that can be caused by this hazard. Four options: no work stoppage, work stoppage, irreversible effect, death. (In our Excel documents, the selection of severity is made via dropdown menus for speed and efficiency.)

Control: This is the level of control you currently have over this hazard in your company. Four options: no control, partially controlled, controlled, well controlled. (In our Excel documents, the selection of current control measures is done via dropdown menus for speed and efficiency.)

Risk Rating: This is a coefficient that informs you of the importance of your hazard. The higher this coefficient, the more it indicates that it is essential to implement effective risk prevention actions to eliminate or reduce its significance. (In our Excel documents, the criticality index is automatically calculated. Here, you will need to use the risk assessment method included in your document.)

Risk Level: These are different levels that inform you about the importance of your hazard. Four different levels exist: very concerning, concerning, less concerning, acceptable as is. (In our Excel documents, the risk level is automatically defined. Here, you will need to use the risk assessment method included in your document.)

How to Reduce Risk: These are the various measures to implement in order to reduce the risks related to your hazard. Among these different measures, the most common ones are: substitution of risk sources, implementation of collective protection measures, implementation of individual protection measures, and worker training.

What does the Risk Prevention section of this template contain?

To complete the risk prevention section of this document, you will need to fill in five columns, the names of which are as follows:

According to the current ranking, hazard number…: This refers to a numerical ranking, with the hazard having the highest criticality index being number one.

Corresponds to the hazard of…: In this column, you will need to specify which hazard you are referring to. (In our Excel documents, hazards are automatically populated based on the risk assessment section. Here, manual entry is required.)

The preventive measures considered to reduce it are…: This column requires you to specify what health and safety risk prevention measures are being considered to mitigate the identified hazard. (In our Excel documents, these preventive measures are automatically populated based on the risk assessment section. Here, manual entry is required.)

These measures are currently…: In this column, specify the current status of the preventive measures you've considered. The options are: perfectly in place, partially in place, to be implemented, or not feasible.

And will be reviewed…: This column is for setting a timeline for measures that are either partially in place or yet to be implemented. Rather than an exact deadline, we recommend setting a time range, such as within a month or within a quarter.

Note: Be cautious about setting overly ambitious timelines that are unrealistic to meet. We recommend setting a semi-annual step, such as "during the first half" or "during the second half" of the year, for better manageability.

Lastly, if you have preventive measures that you do not plan to implement in the current year for various reasons, you may choose the option: "Maybe next year." This allows you to defer these actions to the next review of your Occupational Risk Assessment, which typically occurs annually