Evaluating potential hazards is crucial for mitigating risks in various activities or environments. A risk assessment form is a critical tool for systematically recording, organizing, and prioritizing operational risks.
In this guide, you’ll learn in detail what a risk assessment form is, what it must include, and how to create one using Google Forms. If you’re ready to tackle risks systematically and strategically, let’s begin!
What is a risk assessment form? What does it include?
A risk assessment form is a structured document that identifies and evaluates risks associated with a particular activity or project. In doing that, a risk assessment form acts as a tool that helps you manage potential risks.
Risk assessment forms vary depending on the industry and context in which they are used. Depending on the purpose, a few different types of risk assessment forms are:
- General risk assessment forms: These cover a wide range of potential hazards and risks within a particular setting, such as a workplace or community.
- Health risk assessment forms: This type focuses on identifying risks to human health from various sources, such as environmental pollutants and occupational hazards.
- Environmental risk assessment form: This form examines the adverse effects of human activities on the environment, such as pollution and climate change.
- Project risk assessment forms: These evaluate potential risks associated with projects, including factors such as budget overruns, delays, resource constraints, etc.
- Security risk assessment forms: These aim to identify and mitigate potential threats to the security of assets, information, and personnel.
A risk assessment form must be tailored to the precise situation or project at hand. However, while the details may vary, every risk assessment form should ideally include the following components:
- Risk identification: Outlines potential hazards or sources of harm from the activity.
- Risk Evaluation: Involves quantifying the level of risk associated with it, often using a linear scale or grading method.
- Risk control measures: Contains suggestions or strategies for managing and reducing the identified risks.
How to make a risk assessment form using Google Forms
Keeping the above components in mind, here’s how you can make a general risk assessment form.
Step 1: Create a new Google Form
Go to your Google Forms.
Start a new form by clicking the ‘Blank form’ button.
Give it an appropriate title and a description that gives the respondent context or helpful instructions for filling out the form.
Step 2: Enter fields for personal information needed
Now, it’s time to add questions to collect the personal details of the respondent.
Edit the default question to ‘Name’ and click on the button next to the question field to edit the question format.
Choose the ‘Short answer’ format for this question. Depending on the form's purpose, you may want to collect other personal details. For example, if the risk assessment form is for a workplace, you may want to add separate questions for the employee’s title and the number/name of staff to whom the risk assessment form applies.
To add a new question to your form, click the ‘Add question’ button in the floating menu next to it.
Step 3: Include fields to enter tasks and risks
This is the critical risk identification step of your form. You want the respondent to clearly state all the project's activities/tasks that involve risk and then identify and describe the risk.
Introduce new questions in your form using the ‘Paragraph’ format to gather these details.
Step 4: Enter linear scale to enter the risk level
This is the risk evaluation section of your form. Risk is subjective to some extent; however, you want the respondent to quantify the level of risk involved in each activity task. Quantifying the level of risk helps prioritize strategies and plans later.
We’ll introduce a linear scale question format into the form to allow the respondent to quantify the risk. Draft your question and mark your linear scale labels to avoid confusion. Learn how to add linear scale to Google Forms.
The number of labels you choose will depend on how granular you want to be regarding each identified risk.
Step 5: Include field to enter prevention plans
This section adds the risk control measure component to the form.
Add a new question to your form as described above and enter your question. Also, opt for the ‘Paragraph’ format for this question. With that, you’ve successfully added questions for identifying, evaluating, and mitigating a risk associated with one task of a project/activity.
However, a project or activity may include many risky tasks, and it's important to identify each one individually. To do that, repeat steps 3, 4, and 5 as many times as you think your form needs.
If you decide to repeat the set of questions, it’s important to make them optional so that if there are fewer risky tasks than you’ve made room for, your respondents won’t have trouble submitting the form.
You can do this by toggling the ‘Required’ button at the bottom of each question to the off position.
Step 6: Use the date question for a completion date
Even risky operations have to be completed, so include a question to gather the completion date of the specific operation/activity.
Add a new question to gather the expected finish date of the project and opt for the date question format.
Step 7: Turn it into a document using Form Publisher
Now that your risk assessment form is ready, you should consider turning it into a document. That way, you can save it for easy retrieval, print it out, or even compile it into a comprehensive risk assessment report for your operations.
Doing all these is possible with Form Publisher. Form Publisher is a simple add-on that makes managing Google Form responses easier by turning them into individual documents.
Using that risk assessment form example? You should try Form Publisher
Form Publisher does more than just turn forms into documents. It can help you create automated workflow processes, share documents easily, and even collect e-signatures with Google Forms.
If our tutorial made risk assessment forms easier, you should try Form Publisher to take your form creation process up a notch. You won’t be disappointed! Try Form Publisher.