Risk Assessment Template (Ireland) — Section 19 of the 2005 Act
Generate professional Risk Assessment documents in minutes. No training required.
A written risk assessment template for Irish employers and self-employed people. Built around Section 19 of the Safety, Health and Welfare at Work Act 2005, the General Application Regulations 2007, and the General Principles of Prevention. Designed to support your Safety Statement and PSCS review, subject to competent, project-specific checks.
Designed for: Irish employers, self-employed people, PSCS, contractors and subcontractors writing risk assessments under the 2005 Act
Ireland (RAMS) example document — Single-Storey Side Extension — 18 Glasnevin Avenue, Dublin. Client: Mr & Mrs Kavanagh (Private Client). Site: 18 Glasnevin Avenue, Dublin 11, D11 X2K7. Scope: Construction of a 5.0 m × 3.6 m single-storey side extension: strip foundations to 900 mm, cavity blockwork superstructure, flat warm roof with single-ply membrane, rooflight and new structural opening into the existing kitchen. Works programmed over 9 weeks with a peak site team of 4 operatives.
Full version
Complete Guide to Risk Assessment (Ireland)
What is a Risk Assessment?
A risk assessment is the written process of identifying hazards in your workplace, evaluating who might be harmed and how, and deciding what control measures to put in place. In Ireland it is the foundation document under Section 19 of the Safety, Health and Welfare at Work Act 2005 — every employer must have one, and the findings must be reflected in the Safety Statement under Section 20.
When is it legally required?
Section 19 of the 2005 Act requires every employer and self-employed person to identify hazards and assess risks in writing. There is no size exemption — the duty applies whether you employ one person or one thousand. The General Application Regulations 2007 add specific requirements for manual handling, display screen equipment, PPE, noise, vibration, and chemical agents. On construction projects the Construction Regulations 2013 (S.I. 291/2013) require additional risk assessment for Schedule 1 'particular risks'.
Who is responsible?
The employer is legally responsible. The risk assessment must be carried out by a competent person — someone with the training, experience and knowledge to recognise hazards in the specific work activity. For most low-to-medium-risk employers the HSA's free BeSMART.ie tool is a perfectly acceptable starting point; for higher-risk activities (construction, chemicals, heavy plant) a more detailed site- or task-specific risk assessment is needed, often delivered as a RAMS.
Where is it commonly used?
Every Irish workplace — from a one-person tradesperson up to multi-site employers. Construction projects, retail, hospitality, healthcare, agriculture, manufacturing, schools and childcare. The risk assessment is the document an HSA inspector will ask to see first on any visit, and it underpins every other safety document the business produces.
What a Complete Risk Assessment Includes
- Employer details and date of assessment
- Hazards identified for each work activity and location
- People at risk (employees, contractors, visitors, vulnerable groups)
- Likelihood × severity scoring before controls
- Control measures applied through the General Principles of Prevention (Schedule 3 of the 2005 Act)
- Residual risk score after controls
- Specific assessments where General Application Regs 2007 require them — manual handling, DSE, noise, vibration, chemical agents
- Schedule 1 'particular risks' assessment for construction work where applicable
- Action plan with owner and target date for outstanding actions
- Review trigger — when the assessment must be reviewed (e.g. annually, on incident, on change of activity)
- Competent person signature and date
What's included in this template
Employer & Site Details
Business name, registered address, date and reviewer.
Activity / Location
The specific work activity or area being assessed.
Hazards
Identified hazards — physical, chemical, biological, ergonomic, psychosocial.
People at Risk
Employees, contractors, visitors, members of the public, vulnerable groups.
Initial Risk Score
Likelihood × severity, before controls.
Control Measures
Applied through the General Principles of Prevention.
Residual Risk Score
Likelihood × severity after controls are in place.
Specific Assessments
Manual handling, DSE, noise, vibration, chemical agents — where required.
Action Plan
Outstanding controls with owner and target date.
Review
When and what triggers the next review.
Competent Person Sign-Off
Name, role and date of the person who carried out the assessment.
Ireland Requirements and Best Practice
Legal expectations
- ● Written hazard identification and risk assessment — Section 19, Safety, Health and Welfare at Work Act 2005
- ● Findings transferred into the Safety Statement — Section 20, 2005 Act
- ● Controls derived from the General Principles of Prevention — Schedule 3, 2005 Act
- ● Specific risk assessments where required — General Application Regs 2007 (manual handling, DSE, noise, vibration, chemical agents)
- ● Reviewed regularly and after any incident or significant change
- ● Communicated to employees in a form they understand
What inspectors typically look for
- ● Is the risk assessment site- or task-specific, or a generic template?
- ● Does it cover all the activities actually carried out?
- ● Are vulnerable workers (young persons, pregnant employees, lone workers) considered?
- ● Are the controls in the document the controls in place on site today?
- ● Has the assessment been reviewed in the last 12 months / after the last incident?
- ● Is there evidence employees have been briefed on the findings?
Common compliance mistakes
- Treating a generic BeSMART.ie download as the finished risk assessment without tailoring
- Using a UK risk-assessment template that cites MHSWR 1999 and HSE
- Listing 'wear PPE' as the primary control instead of working through the hierarchy
- No specific manual handling or DSE assessment where the General Application Regs 2007 require one
- Risk assessment never reviewed — same document, same scores, year after year
- Risk assessment that doesn't feed into the Safety Statement
BeSMART.ie vs. UK risk-assessment template vs. Riskora
| What you need | BeSMART.ie | UK template | Riskora (Ireland) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Section 19 2005 Act framing | Yes (generic) | No — MHSWR 1999 | Yes — site-specific |
| General Principles of Prevention applied | Partial | No (UK hierarchy of controls) | Yes — Schedule 3 mapped |
| Feeds into Safety Statement (Section 20) | Yes | No — different regime | Yes |
| Construction Schedule 1 risks mapped | No | Not applicable | Yes — S.I. 291/2013 |
| Site/job-specific (not template-generic) | Manual rewrite | Manual rewrite | Generated from your inputs |
| Time to first document | 1–2 hours | 1–2 hours editing | Under 5 minutes |
| Cost | Free | Free (then rewrite) | Free account · No card |
Example Use Cases
Manual handling assessment for a Galway warehouse
A logistics employer assesses pallet-handling activity for 12 operatives. The risk assessment uses the General Application Regulations 2007 manual-handling factors (load, task, environment, individual capability), scores residual risk after pallet truck and trolley introduction, and feeds the findings into the warehouse Safety Statement under Section 20.
Display Screen Equipment (DSE) assessment for a Dublin office
A 30-person office completes individual DSE assessments under the General Application Regs 2007. Each workstation is scored, eye-test entitlement is recorded, and an action plan covers the chairs and monitor arms that need replacement. The aggregated findings update the office Safety Statement.
Chemical agents risk assessment for a Cork manufacturer
A small manufacturer storing and decanting solvents writes a Chemical Agents risk assessment under S.I. 619/2001 (as amended). The document covers each substance, exposure route, exposure limit, controls (LEV, ventilation, PPE), health surveillance and emergency arrangements, and is reviewed annually against updated Safety Data Sheets.
How to use this template
- 1
List your activities
Every distinct task or area — office work, plant operation, chemicals, manual handling, lone working.
- 2
Identify hazards
Walk the workplace. Talk to operatives. Reference Safety Data Sheets, equipment manuals and HSA guidance.
- 3
Score the risk
Likelihood × severity. Use a consistent matrix so scores compare across activities.
- 4
Apply the General Principles of Prevention
Eliminate, substitute, engineering controls, administrative controls, PPE — in that order.
- 5
Add specific assessments where required
Manual handling, DSE, noise, vibration, chemical agents — under the General Application Regs 2007.
- 6
Feed into your Safety Statement
Section 20 of the 2005 Act requires the Safety Statement to be based on this risk assessment.
- 7
Brief employees and review
Communicate the findings in plain language. Review annually, after incidents, or when activities change.
Common mistakes to avoid
- Downloading a generic risk assessment and never tailoring it to your actual workplace
- Pointing at the wrong legislation — the 2005 Act, not the 1989 Act and not MHSWR 1999
- PPE listed as the only control measure
- No specific manual handling or DSE assessment where required
- Risk assessment that's never reviewed
- No clear competent-person sign-off
Share or Use This Template
This Risk Assessment template is free to use and share. Feel free to reference it with your team, include it in training materials, or link to it from your own resources.
Why templates have limitations
Templates provide a solid starting point, but they require manual editing to match your specific site conditions, hazards, and work activities. This can be time-consuming and important site-specific risks may be missed if sections are left generic.
For projects where accuracy and speed matter, many contractors prefer tools that generate structured documents automatically based on real project inputs.
Prefer to generate this instantly?
Riskora creates fully structured Risk Assessment documents in under 5 minutes. Select your trade, choose your hazards, and download — no manual editing required.
Frequently asked questions
Or start from this template inside Riskora — edit, customise, and download in minutes.
No card required · 1 lifetime safety document · Upgrade when you need more
Related templates and guides
Templates and documents should be reviewed by a competent person before use. Riskora provides tools to assist in the preparation of safety documentation — final responsibility rests with the user and their organisation.