Dynamic risk assessment template: record what changed on the day

Direct answer. A dynamic risk assessment is the worker or supervisor’s immediate review when the real conditions no longer match the planned job. Pause, identify the new hazard and who could be harmed, decide whether existing controls still work, put additional controls in place, and either continue, escalate or stop. The blank form below makes that decision visible to the people affected. It does not replace the original task risk assessment, RAMS, permit or required specialist approval. HSE says employers should review risk controls when workplace changes may create new risks and update the assessment record for changes made. HSE risk-management steps.

This is a short change-decision worksheet, not another generic risk-assessment library. The existing Complys RAMS-versus-risk-assessment guide explains the difference between planned and on-the-day judgement. Use the worksheet when you need to record a changed condition and the decision taken. Before an indexable route is created, confirm that the current repository does not already have a dynamic-assessment form with the same task intent.

What should trigger a dynamic check?

Examples include a new delivery route through a pedestrian area, a change in weather affecting access, an uncharted service exposed during excavation, a different machine arriving, an adjacent trade entering the work zone, a hazardous material or a worker noticing that a specified control is absent. The important distinction is material effect on the assessment. A minor, controlled change may be manageable under the existing method; an unexpected structural, electrical, confined-space or contamination risk may require stopping and a competent redesign. Do not use “dynamic” as permission to improvise a specialist method.

HSE’s risk-management steps ask who might be harmed and how, what can eliminate the hazard, what controls can reduce the risk, who will put them in place, and whether they remain effective. It also warns against relying purely on paperwork. The form is useful because it records who made a decision and which affected workers were told, but the controls must be implemented in the work area. HSE steps.

Some organisations call a verbal pause-and-check a dynamic assessment and reserve the form for consequential changes. That is a reasonable operating choice if workers understand the escalation boundary and the employer keeps records that the law, project or its own system requires. HSE says organisations with five or more people must record significant findings of risk assessment. It does not say every minor on-the-day thought requires a separate form. HSE recording guidance.

Copyable on-the-day decision form

Write the actual facts in the empty fields. Do not prefill the result as “low risk”. If the planned work has a permit, identify its holder and determine whether the permit remains valid. A change outside the authorisation means stop and seek reauthorisation before proceeding.

A. Job and original plan

First question: can the team safely pause? A worker should not remain exposed while someone completes a form. Secure the immediate area, stop relevant plant or operations if safe to do so, and alert the person in control. Where an immediate emergency exists, follow the emergency procedure, not the normal approval sequence.

B. What changed?

For example, a plan may assume that a delivery is unloaded inside a fenced compound. A parked vehicle now blocks the gate and forces the proposed unloading point onto a footway. The changed hazard is not merely “parking problem”; it is possible interaction between the load, moving plant and pedestrians. A controller must decide whether a safe alternate unloading arrangement can be established. High-visibility clothing alone will not create physical separation.

C. Control choice and proof

Work through controls in a sensible order. Can the hazard be eliminated by rescheduling, changing route or using a different method? If not, can it be isolated or controlled by an engineered or collective measure? What supervision, information and protective equipment are still needed? HSE places practical controls ahead of a paper exercise. A risk score may help prioritise within the employer’s system, but a changed number is not evidence that a barrier, isolation or ventilation system is working. HSE control steps.

Write the check in an observable form: “Supervisor walks revised segregated route before restarting,” rather than “traffic risk managed”. For an unexpected service, the correct immediate control may be stop and obtain competent identification; a new entry in the risk matrix does not make machine excavation safe. For an altered scaffold, the appropriate person may need to inspect or redesign it before use. Dynamic assessment should expose those dependencies, not bury them in a signature box.

D. Decision and authorisation

Choose one outcome and record why:

Decision owner: [name and role]. Decision time: [insert]. Work restarted at: [insert only after release]. If a legal or site permit is affected, record its revised authorisation reference. Where the person present lacks the authority or competence to judge the new condition, the correct decision is to maintain the safe stop and escalate.

E. Tell the people affected

A changed method is ineffective if only the person writing the form knows about it. Brief the workforce in language they understand, identify the new limit and stop signal, and tell other trades whose access or work sequence changes. Attach the form to the existing assessment or job record. HSE advises updating assessment records when controls change and involving workers in risk management. HSE risk steps; HSE consultation guidance.

Two worked decision examples

Example 1: delivery route blocked. A subcontractor planned to unload plasterboard through the site gate and move it with a trolley to the workface. A skip now blocks the gate. The team pauses unloading. A foreman checks whether the skip can be moved; if it can, the planned route can be restored. If not, the principal contractor agrees a different segregated route and checks the ground, gradients, door widths and pedestrian protection before any board is moved. The work restarts only after the route is set up and the delivery team briefed. The dynamic form records the actual decision and who checked the controls. It does not pretend a two-person lift through an unsafe public route is an adequate default.

Example 2: unknown material in a wall. A fixing crew opens a section of older building fabric and finds unfamiliar insulation. They stop disturbance, keep others out, record the location and ask for the building’s asbestos information and competent assessment. They do not label it “non-asbestos” from appearance or continue with upgraded PPE. The planned method remains on hold until the uncertainty is resolved, and any revised work procedure is authorised and briefed. This is a good dynamic assessment even though the outcome is no restart. HSE asbestos survey guidance.

Review the planned assessment, not only today’s note

One isolated obstruction may be resolved by a documented change. Repeated obstructions show that the original plan or site coordination may be wrong. Feed the lesson into the standing assessment, RAMS, traffic layout or logistics plan. The same applies after a near miss, equipment change or new work team. HSE advises review when controls may no longer be effective or changes could introduce new risks, then updating the risk assessment record. HSE risk steps.

Retain the dynamic record with the job so a later reader can see the original plan, the change, who was informed and which version applied. A photo or reading can support a decision, but context and approval still matter. If several such notes conflict, consolidate them into a revised controlled method instead of asking workers to reconcile a stack of contradictory amendments on site.

Related Complys workflow

The risk-assessment software page is the relevant money-page destination if your team wants to manage assessments and revisions. Confirm the current deployed features, exact UK route and commercial terms before claiming that Complys captures on-the-day decisions, issues alerts or automatically revises RAMS. This template is useful as a standalone static worksheet without making any such software claim. The RAMS overview explains the planned document that a dynamic decision may require you to revisit.

Source and claim register — checked 5 October 2026