How to Write a Site Specific Risk Assessment in 2025

Construction sites are dynamic and inherently hazardous environments. Ensuring the safety of everyone involved isn't just a legal requirement; it's a moral obligation and makes sound business sense. A cornerstone of site safety is the Construction Risk Assessment. But how do you write one that's truly effective?

Often seen merely as a box-ticking exercise, a well-executed risk assessment is far more. It acts as much as a confirmation of your own understanding of the job's hazards as it is a necessary compliance document. It forces you to think critically about the specific tasks, environment, and materials involved.

This guide will walk you through how to write a risk assessment specifically for construction activities, moving beyond generic templates to create a truly site-specific safety plan.

Risk Assessments are an essential aspect of construction Safe Systems of Work

Thinking Beyond the Checklist: Spatial, Process, and Product Risks

To conduct a thorough assessment, it helps to categorize potential hazards. Consider these three dimensions for your specific construction project:

1. Spatial Risk: This relates to the physical environment and location of the work. Think about the site layout, adjacent structures, ground conditions, overhead obstructions, underground services, access/egress routes, and even weather conditions. Where is the work happening, and what hazards does that location present?

   
   

2. Process Risk: This focuses on the sequence of operations and the methods used to carry out the work. Consider the specific tasks involved, the tools and equipment being used (and how they're used), manual handling requirements, energy sources, and the interaction between different trades or activities. How is the work being done, and what hazards does that process create?

   
   

3. Product Risk: This relates to the materials, substances, components, or even the finished structure itself. Think about hazardous substances (dusts, chemicals, fumes), heavy materials, sharp objects, unstable components, or risks associated with the final installed product. What are you working with, and what hazards do those materials or items pose?

   
   

Step-by-Step: Writing Your Site-Specific Construction Risk Assessment

Generic hazards won't cut it. Your assessment must reflect the real conditions and tasks on your site.

Step 1: Identify the Hazards (Be Specific!)

Walk the site (if possible) and mentally walk through the job sequence. Using the Spatial, Process, and Product framework, list the specific hazards.

• Generic Hazard: Working at height.

• Site-Specific Hazard (Spatial): Working on incomplete scaffolding (Process) on the north elevation, adjacent to overhead power lines (Spatial), while installing heavy window units (Product).

  
  

• Generic Hazard: Use of machinery.

• Site-Specific Hazard (Process): Operating a 3-tonne mini-digger (Process) on soft, uneven ground (Spatial) near an open excavation (Spatial) for backfilling (Process).

• Generic Hazard: Manual Handling.

  
  

• Site-Specific Hazard (Product): Manually carrying large plasterboard sheets (Product) up narrow temporary stairs (Spatial) during peak site activity (Process).

  
  

Step 2: Determine Who Might Be Harmed and How

For each specific hazard identified, think about who could be affected. Don't just list "workers." Be more precise:

• Operatives directly involved (e.g., scaffolders, digger operators, labourers)

• Other workers nearby (e.g., groundworkers below scaffold, other trades)

• Visitors or inspectors

• Members of the public (if the site boundary is close)

  
  

Then, describe how they might be harmed:

• Hazard: Working on incomplete scaffolding adjacent to overhead power lines.

  • Who: Scaffolders, installers, groundworkers below.

  • How: Falls from height (serious injury/fatality), electrocution from power line contact (fatality), being struck by falling materials (injury).

    
    

• Hazard: Operating mini-digger near open excavation.

  • Who: Operator, nearby groundworkers.

  • How: Machine tipping into excavation (serious injury/fatality to operator), collapse of excavation edge onto workers (burial/crushing), striking workers with bucket/machine body (impact injuries).

Step 3: Evaluate the Risk (Risk Rating)

Assess the level of risk associated with each hazard before control measures are put in place. A common method is:

Likelihood x Impact = Risk Rating

• Likelihood: How likely is it that something could go wrong?

  
  

• Impact: If it does go wrong, how severe would the consequences be?

You can use different scales:

• Numeric Scales: E.g., Likelihood (1-5) x Severity (1-5) = Risk Score (1-25). This gives a granular score but requires clear definitions for each number.

  • Likelihood: 1=Very Unlikely, 5=Very Likely

  • Severity: 1=Minor Injury (First Aid), 5=Fatality

    
    

• Word Descriptions: E.g., Likelihood (Low/Medium/High) x Severity (Low/Medium/High) = Risk Level (Low/Medium/High/Very High). This is often simpler to understand and communicate.

Choose a method and apply it consistently. The initial rating helps prioritize which hazards need the most robust controls.

Step 4: Decide on Control Measures (Site-Specific Controls)

This is the most critical step. For each hazard, determine what measures you will implement to eliminate or reduce the risk to an acceptable level. Use the hierarchy of controls:

1. Elimination: Remove the hazard completely (e.g., design out the need to work at height). (Best option)

   
   

2. Substitution: Replace the hazard with something less risky (e.g., use less hazardous materials).

   
   

3. Engineering Controls: Isolate people from the hazard (e.g., install edge protection, machine guarding, local exhaust ventilation).

   
   

4. Administrative Controls: Change the way people work (e.g., safe work procedures, permits-to-work, training, warning signs, exclusion zones).

   
   

5. Personal Protective Equipment (PPE): Protect the worker with equipment (e.g., hard hats, gloves, harnesses, respirators). (Last resort)

Your controls must be specific to the hazards and site conditions you identified.

• Hazard: Working on incomplete scaffolding adjacent to overhead power lines.

  
  

• Specific Controls: Ensure scaffold is erected by competent persons to approved design, fully boarded with double guardrail and toe boards (Engineering). Implement daily scaffold inspection checklist (Administrative). Establish strict exclusion zone around overhead lines ('Goal Post' barriers if necessary) (Engineering/Administrative). Tool tethers for tools used at height (Administrative/PPE). Mandatory hard hats below (PPE).

  
  

• Hazard: Operating mini-digger near open excavation on soft ground.

  
  

• Specific Controls: Ensure operator is trained and competent (Administrative). Assess ground conditions; use bog mats if necessary (Engineering). Keep machine >1m from excavation edge (Administrative). Ensure excavation is properly shored or battered back (Engineering). Use a banksman for reversing/tight manoeuvres (Administrative).

  
  

Step 5: Record Your Findings

Document everything clearly in your risk assessment form. Include the identified hazards, who might be harmed and how, the initial risk rating, the specific control measures, and a residual risk rating (the risk level after controls are implemented). Assign responsibility for implementing controls and set deadlines.

Step 6: Review and Update

A risk assessment is a living document. Review it regularly, especially if:

• There are changes to the task, site conditions, personnel, or equipment.

• There's been an accident or near miss.

• New information about the risks becomes available.

  
  

Brief the assessment findings to all relevant personnel before work starts.

Software Solution

Alternativley, use our RAMSGen software to create compliant site specific risk assessments & method statements in minutes.

RAMSGen produces compliant, site specific risk assessments in minutes

Writing detailed, site-specific risk assessments and method statements (RAMS) takes time and expertise. RAMSGen leverages the power of artificial intelligence to help you:

• Generate Draft RAMS Faster: Input your project details, and our risk analysis engine will identify hazards and build relevant controls based on vast industry knowledge.

  
  

• Improve Consistency & Quality: Ensure key risks aren't missed and standard control measures are considered.

  
  

• Focus on Site Specificity: Use the risk analysis engine to create RAMS specific to your site, while allowing you to focus your expertise on tailoring it to your unique conditions.

  
  

• Save Valuable Time: Reduce the administrative burden of safety paperwork, freeing up managers and safety professionals to focus on implementation and oversight.

Discover how RAMSGen can transform your approach to risk assessments and safety documentation.

Learn more about RAMSGen and request a demo today!

https://www.ramsgen.com