The short version: for a workplace health and safety risk assessment in the UK, start with the HSE's own template and examples. For project or business risk, Vertex42 has a free risk matrix you can customise, Miro has collaborative templates on a free plan, and Atlassian Confluence has a page template for teams. Whichever you use, the HSE says a template is a record of your thinking, not a substitute for it.
Risk assessments have a reputation for being boring paperwork, and that's exactly why people go looking for a template to fill in quickly. A good template does save time. But it's only as useful as the thinking you put into it, and the official guidance is very clear on that point. Here's where to find a free one and how to choose the right kind.
Four risk assessment template sources worth knowing
In no particular order:
- HSE: best for UK businesses that want a simple record of who might be harmed, how, and what's being done about it.
- Vertex42: best for building and customising a risk matrix in Excel, with likelihood and impact rating examples.
- Miro: best for a team working through risks together on a shared board.
- Atlassian (Confluence): best for teams that want a standard page for identifying risks, judging their likelihood and deciding how to handle them.
Which risk template suits which job
| Source | Best for | Free plan (as of Nov 2026) |
|---|---|---|
| Atlassian (Confluence) | A standard team page for project risks | Not stated |
| HSE | A simple UK workplace health and safety record | Not stated |
| Miro | Collaborative risk sessions | Yes |
| Vertex42 | A customisable risk matrix in Excel | Not stated |
Pages and plans change, so check the vendor's own page before you rely on any limit.
The catch: the template is the record, not the assessment
This is the part I'd want every small business owner to read twice. The HSE says you can use a risk assessment template to help you keep a simple record of who might be harmed and how, what you're already doing to control the risks, and what further action is needed. That's a record. It's not the assessment itself.
The HSE also publishes examples, and it says you can use them as a guide to think about some of the hazards in your business and the steps you need to take to manage the risks. Then comes the warning: don't just copy an example and put your company name on it. The HSE says that wouldn't satisfy the law and wouldn't protect your employees.
Vertex42 makes a similar point from the other side. Its page says a risk assessment is often based on rough qualitative information, expert opinion and experience, without much hard data. In other words, the scores in your matrix are judgement calls, so the people doing the work should be the ones making them.
I'm not giving legal advice here, and for anything to do with workplace health and safety in the UK, the HSE's own pages are the place to check what applies to you. If you want the bigger picture on why it matters, I've written about the importance of health and safety in the workplace.
To dig into why something went wrong, try one of these free fishbone diagram templates.
How to fill in a risk assessment template
- Decide what kind of risk you're assessing. Harm to people at work points you to the HSE. Project, IT or strategic risk points you to Vertex42, Miro or Confluence.
- Walk through the work itself and list the hazards or risks you can see. Use the HSE examples as prompts, not as answers.
- For each one, write down who might be harmed or affected, and how.
- Note what you're already doing to control it. This is often more than people expect.
- Decide what further action is needed, and write it down so someone can act on it.
- If you're scoring risks, rate the likelihood and impact. Vertex42's page includes examples for both, plus how to calculate a risk score.
- Share it with the people affected and review it when something changes.
A completed risk assessment often turns into a to-do list, and checklist templates from well-known tools suit that well.
Workplace safety risk or project risk?
The word risk covers two quite different jobs, and the sources split along that line. The HSE template is about people: who might be harmed at work and how. It's written for UK businesses and sits inside the HSE's simple health and safety guidance.
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The other three lean towards business and project risk. Atlassian files its Confluence template under categories such as project management, software and IT, risk planning and strategic planning, and says it helps teams identify potential risks, assess their likelihood and handle them accordingly. It also says the template helps teams standardise best practices, which is useful if several people write these. Teams that outgrow a template can move to software built for managing risk.
Miro says its risk assessment templates give you a clear structure to evaluate potential challenges and prioritise actions, whether you're planning, analysing or mitigating. Its free plan is aimed at small teams getting started, so it's a reasonable choice for a workshop where everyone adds risks to the same board. Vertex42 is the one to pick if you like spreadsheets: its page covers the risk assessment template, likelihood rating examples, impact rating examples, calculating the risk score and creating a colour scale in Excel.
If your risk work is part of planning for things going wrong more broadly, my guide to a small business continuity plan picks up where a risk register leaves off.
Frequently asked questions
Where can I get a free risk assessment template?
The HSE publishes a risk assessment template and examples for UK businesses. Vertex42 has a free risk matrix template for Excel, Miro has collaborative templates with a free plan, and Atlassian has a Confluence page template.
Can I just copy a risk assessment example?
No. The HSE says not to copy an example and put your company name to it, because that wouldn't satisfy the law and wouldn't protect your employees.
What does a risk assessment template record?
The HSE says it helps you keep a simple record of who might be harmed and how, what you're already doing to control the risks, and what further action is needed.
What is a risk matrix?
It's a grid that scores each risk on likelihood and impact. Vertex42's free template lets you create and customise one, with rating examples and a section on calculating the risk score.
Is a risk score based on hard data?
Often not. Vertex42 says a risk assessment is often based on rough qualitative information, expert opinion and experience, without much hard data.
