Free HSE template · Risk Assessment Templates
HSE Risk Register Template
The risk register template is the living version of the risk assessment: the running list of the significant risks across the site, each with an owner, a control plan, a date and a status that gets challenged in the management review. It is the document the ISO 45001 auditor opens and the one the directors actually read.
HSE Risk Register — the running list of significant risks
One line per significant risk, scored 5×5, with the owner, the plan, the date and the status. Print for the review, export to CSV for the system.
| Risk (who is harmed by what) | Category | L | C | Score | Owner | Current controls | Mitigation | Target | Status |
|---|
The template scores every line on the standard 5×5, colour-bands it, and carries the columns the register needs — the category, the pre- and residual scores, the owner, the mitigation, the target date and the status. Fill it in from your assessments, print it for the management meeting, or export it to CSV so it lives in your spreadsheet between reviews.
How to use the template
- Set the header — the organisation or site, the register owner, the review interval, the last review date
- Add one line per significant risk, written as a phrase: who is harmed by what
- Give each line a category so you can filter and read the mix
- Score likelihood and consequence — the template shows the score and the colour
- Name the owner and the target date on every high or very high line
- Print it for the management review, or export to CSV for your system — and move the status when the control lands
Worked example
A warehouse register with four lines: the racking collapse (3×5=15, high — the load review, owner the store manager), the forklift pedestrian strike (3×4=12 — the barrier at the crossing, in progress), the cold-store hypothermia (2×3=6 — the rota limits, in place), and the dock vehicle reversal (2×5=10 — the spotter and the camera, in place). The management review asks the owner of every red line what has happened since last month — that question is what the register is for.
Standard & legal context
The register is the typical vehicle for ISO 45001:2018 clause 6.1.2 (hazard identification) and clause 6.1.3 (determining controls), and ISO 45003 extends it to psychosocial risk. In the UK the MHSWR regulation 6 recording duty and the HSE expectation of a managed, reviewed risk system produce the same document. The 5×5 scoring and the band actions follow the HSE ACoP L80 convention, so the register and the assessments speak the same numbers.
Common mistakes
- Writing the risks as nouns — fire, slips, chemicals — instead of who is harmed by what
- One register for the whole organisation instead of per site and per activity — the owner of a site risk is a site person
- Letting the status sit at in progress for six months — status is a claim, and the review meeting is the audit
- Deleting the closed lines — the history is the trend, and the trend is what the directors read
Need the sign-off, not just the template?
The template is the preparation; the sign-off is the professional. For the statutory assessments, the audits, the ISO 45001 implementation and the training that comes with them, ask Muhammad Umer — 8+ years across Iraq, KSA and Pakistan, and the programme runs through umer-hse.pro. One message gets the written scope.
Common questions
HSE Risk Register Template — answered
What is an HSE risk register?
The organisations running list of its significant risks — each with a score, an owner, a control plan, a target date and a status — maintained and reviewed at a set interval rather than written once.
How is a risk register different from a risk assessment?
The assessment is the document for one workplace or activity; the register is the portfolio of the significant risks across the site, drawn from the assessments and the incident and near-miss record.
How often should the register be reviewed?
At least monthly in active environments, quarterly in stable offices, and always after an incident, a near miss that revealed a gap, or a change to the work. The interval is yours to set; the triggers are not.
What goes in a risk register?
One line per significant risk: the description, the category, the pre- and residual scores, the controls, the owner, the target date, the status and the last review. Keep it to the significant risks — the register is not the place for the 2×2s.
Can I export the register?
Yes — the Export CSV button downloads every column for Excel or your HSE software, and Print / Save as PDF gives the document for the management meeting.
Is a risk register a legal requirement?
Indirectly: the MHSWR recording duty, ISO 45001 clause 6.1, and client and lender requirements all converge on the same document. The law requires managed risk; the register is how the management is evidenced.
Keep building
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THE HEALTH AND SAFETY is an education and knowledge network. The templates are free and open; the professional assessments and audits run through umer-hse.pro.
Safety disclaimer
These templates are practical documents, built to the UK baseline with the US equivalents named on each page. They do not replace a competent person assessment for high-risk work, a statutory assessment, or the advice of your insurer. Where a document has legal force — the fire risk assessment, the COSHH register, the permit to work — the responsible person owns it. Use the template as the preparation, and the competent person as the sign-off.