Skip to content

Free template

Updated

Risk register template

A risk register is the living list of what could go wrong for a plant, a project or a change, with each risk scored, owned, treated and reviewed. Each row holds what could happen and why, a likelihood from 1 to 5, an impact from 1 to 5, the score (the two multiplied) and a rating, what you will do about it (avoid, reduce, transfer or accept), the action, the owner, the due date, and the score left once the action is done. This template has three landscape pages: the register, the scales with four rating bands, a heat map and a review log, and a worked example of a made-up plant adding a second shift, with 15 risks. The Excel version works out the score and rating, flags overdue actions and high risks with no owner, draws a heat map of open risks as raised and after the action, and tracks when the next review is due. It sits beside the risk assessment matrix, which is the grid, while the register is the list you keep.

Free to use: print it, copy it and edit it for your team. Enter your name and work email once to download.

Page 1 of the risk register templateFields for plant, owner, start date and review interval above a register table with columns for the risk, cause, likelihood, impact, score, rating, treatment, action, owner and due date.
Register with scores and ratingsLikelihood and impact scalesRating bandsTreatment optionsHeat mapReview logWorked example with 15 risks
Filled-in Risk register template: a plant adding a second shift with 15 risks
The same sheet filled in with the worked example (page 3 of the PDF, illustrative numbers). Open full size (opens the picture in a new tab)

When to use it

When to use a risk register

  • When a plant or project has risks in people's heads, in emails and in meeting notes, but not in one place.
  • Before a change such as a new shift, a new line, a new supplier or a move, to list what could go wrong and who owns each risk.
  • For a regular review with the plant manager, where the question is which risks changed since last time.
  • To show an auditor, an insurer or a customer that risks are identified, scored, owned and reviewed.
  • Not for scoring one hazard on one task (use a job safety analysis or the risk assessment matrix) or for failure modes of a process (use a process FMEA).

How to fill it in

  1. 1

    Set the scales and bands once

    Agree what a 1 and a 5 mean for likelihood and for impact, and the score at which a risk is low, medium, high or critical. Keep them the same for every risk so scores can be compared. The key page gives an example to edit.

  2. 2

    List the risks

    One row for each risk: what could happen, the category and the cause. Write the event, not a fear: single-source supplier fails to ship, not supply chain.

  3. 3

    Score likelihood and impact

    Score each from 1 to 5. The score is likelihood times impact, and the rating comes from the bands. Score the risk as it stands today, with the controls you already have.

  4. 4

    Choose a treatment, an action and an owner

    Decide whether to avoid, reduce, transfer or accept the risk. Write the action, one named owner and a due date. A risk with no owner is not being managed.

  5. 5

    Score again after the action

    Write the likelihood and impact you expect once the action is done. The gap between the two scores is what the action buys. Keep accepted risks on the list with a review date.

  6. 6

    Review on a schedule

    Review the register at a set interval, record it in the review log, close what is done, add what is new and re-score what changed. The heat map shows where to start.

A filled-in example

Illustrative, not a benchmark

An example: a made-up plant adding a second shift, with 15 risks, scored as raised and after the action.

  • The risks include a single-source casting supplier, untrained relief operators, a compressor at the end of its life, lone working at night, no fire warden for the new shift and overtime that could break working-time limits.
  • As raised, 8 risks are High and 7 are Medium. The worst are the single-source supplier (likelihood 3, impact 5, score 15) and several scored 12.
  • Most are reduced: a second source and four weeks of stock, cross-training before the shift starts, a standby for the compressor, a buddy system at night. One is avoided, one transferred through insurance and two accepted.
  • After the actions, 10 are Medium and 5 are Low, and nothing is left in High or Critical. The two accepted risks keep their scores and stay on the register with an owner.

The heat map moves from a cluster in the orange cells to the lower left, which is the picture a review wants to see. The risks and scores are invented to show how the register is used.

Common mistakes

  • Risks written as vague topics

    A row that says supply chain or morale cannot be scored or owned. Write the event that could happen and its cause.

  • No owner or no date

    A risk with an owner and no date, or a date and no owner, drifts. Every open risk needs both.

  • Scoring everything high

    If most risks are rated High, the register stops showing what to do first. Use the scales to separate them, and check the bands.

  • Never closing a risk

    A register that only grows becomes noise. Close a risk when the action is done and it no longer matters, and record it in the review.

  • Filing it after the first review

    A risk register is only worth having if it is reviewed on a schedule. Put the next review date in the diary at the end of each one.

Download the template

Free to use: print it, copy it and edit it for your team. Enter your name and work email once to download.

Run this template in LeanSuite

In LeanSuite safety procedures start from marketplace templates, including risk assessments; anyone reports a hazard as a tag from a QR code, and a serious hazard can become a CAPA project with root cause analysis.

See it in a 45-minute demo

FAQ

Risk register template: common questions

  1. A risk register is a list of the risks to a plant, project or change, each with a description, a likelihood and impact score, a rating, a treatment, an action, an owner, a due date and a status. It is reviewed on a schedule.

  2. An ID, the date raised, a category, what could happen, the cause, likelihood, impact, the score and rating, the treatment (avoid, reduce, transfer or accept), the action, the owner, the due date, the score after the action and the status.

  3. Score likelihood and impact on the same scale, here from 1 to 5, and multiply them. Compare the score with agreed bands to get a rating such as low, medium, high or critical. The scales and bands need to be the same for every risk.

  4. At a fixed interval that fits the pace of your changes, often monthly or quarterly, and whenever something major changes. High risks usually need more frequent review than low ones. The Excel review log works out the next review date from the interval you set.

  5. The matrix is the grid used to score a risk. The register is the list of all the risks you have scored, with owners, actions and dates. You use the matrix to fill in the register.

More free templates

All templates
Browse all 236 templates

Can't find the template you need?

Tell us what you're looking for. We'll make it and send it to your inbox, free.

A shift handover sheet, a red tag log, a changeover checklist for one machine: if your team uses it on the floor, ask.

By sending this form you agree to our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy.

Pass it on

We want LeanSuite to be the best place on the internet for lean help. If this was useful, send it to someone on your team or in your network who needs it.