Hazard identification form for Irish workplaces

Use this form when someone spots a condition or work activity that could cause injury or ill health. Record what and where it is, who could be harmed, make urgent risks safe, assign a responsible person and pass the finding into the workplace risk assessment and Safety Statement. A hazard identification form is an intake and action record. It does not itself complete the risk assessment required by Irish law.

Under section 19 of the Safety, Health and Welfare at Work Act 2005, employers and others with control must identify hazards and assess the risks arising from them. Section 20 links that assessment to the Safety Statement. The Health and Safety Authority (HSA) describes the practical sequence: find hazards, decide who may be harmed and how, assess risk, put controls in place, and update the assessment when work changes. This form supports the first step and handover, then requires a named person to decide what further assessment and control are needed.

A hazard is a source of possible harm, such as a damaged machine guard, an unprotected edge, solvent vapour or vehicles crossing a pedestrian route. Risk depends on how likely and severe the harm could be and who is exposed. Do not enter “high risk” with no description of the actual hazard or exposure.

Copyable hazard identification form

Use one form per distinct finding. If several hazards interact, link the records in a combined assessment rather than losing the relationship. Include photographs or sketches in a controlled system where they help; do not put personal health information in a shared hazard board.

A. Report details

Example: “Forklift crosses a marked pedestrian route at the warehouse west door; view blocked by stacked pallets during afternoon deliveries” is more useful than “forklift hazard”. It gives the assessor an exposure scenario and a location to inspect.

B. Immediate response and stop gate

Do not use the form as permission to continue unsafe work. If the hazard could cause immediate serious harm, stop or isolate the affected activity, get the appropriate supervisor or specialist and follow the site's emergency rules. A reporter need not solve a technical issue before raising it.

C. Who could be harmed and how?

Think beyond the team that first reported the problem. A leaking chemical may affect cleaners after the shift; a blocked exit affects everyone using that route. The HSA recommends consulting employees and safety representatives during risk assessment because they understand the actual work and its variations.

D. Assessment and action handover

E. Verification and closure

A hazard should not be marked “closed” merely because somebody sent an email. The record should show that the actual control is in place and effective. Where a temporary control remains, keep its owner and review date visible.

How to use the form in six steps

1. Capture the facts quickly. The worker or visitor reports what they observed, where and when. An anonymous or low-friction route may help people speak up, but a case owner still needs enough detail to locate and investigate the issue. If there was an injury or near miss, link to the separate incident process.

2. Make the area safe. Decide whether anyone can be harmed before the next routine review. Use stop-work, isolation, warning and emergency arrangements. A form should not delay first aid, evacuation or urgent repair.

3. Assign a competent reviewer. The line manager, safety adviser or specialist checks the scene and existing assessment. For chemical agents, machinery, structural stability or fire, a general checklist may not be enough. The HSA risk-assessment guide expects the employer to consider the likelihood/severity of harm and the people exposed, then set controls.

4. Choose a control, not just a label. “Be careful” is weak. A physical separation between people and vehicles, a repaired guard, a substituted chemical or an engineered access method is more testable. Write who will deliver it and what evidence proves it works. If the control creates a new hazard, assess that too.

5. Update the real assessment and Safety Statement. The HSA says risk assessments are live documents and should be revisited when activities, equipment, chemicals, organisation, law or evidence change. Significant findings belong in the relevant risk assessment and Safety Statement, with version and briefing records. This intake form should link to those records rather than masquerade as them.

6. Verify and learn. Check the physical result, tell the reporter what happened where appropriate and look for repeat findings at other sites. Several similar reports may indicate a systemic design or maintenance issue, not three isolated “one-off” hazards.

Worked example: a warehouse loading route

A worker reports that a pallet stack blocks the driver's view across a pedestrian crossing. The supervisor temporarily closes the crossing and directs people to a protected route. The assessor then checks vehicle movements, deliveries, stacking limits, sightlines, lighting and nearby tasks. The permanent solution might move storage, install a barrier and redesign the crossing. The traffic assessment and Safety Statement are updated; warehouse staff and delivery drivers are briefed. The action is only closed after the new route is inspected during a real busy delivery period. The original report, temporary control, assessment version and verification are linked by the same case ID.

Common mistakes

• Treating a hazard form as a legal risk assessment without judging exposure, controls and residual risk.
• Writing only “unsafe area” or “PPE needed”, leaving no location or evidence for the reviewer.
• Closing the form when a repair is assigned, before it is tested.
• Allowing a temporary barrier to become a permanent undocumented workaround.
• Recording only employee exposure while contractors, visitors or the public use the same space.
• Using a UK risk-assessment form with UK-only legal references and calling it Irish-compliant.
• Keeping photos and personal details in an uncontrolled shared folder.

Complys and next step

The manifest's Irish risk-assessment software route is a candidate commercial link, not a verified feature statement. Confirm that route and the current Irish implementation before publication. A suitable system should let the organisation capture a finding, assign a reviewer, link it to the relevant assessment, track corrective action and preserve a version history; do not say Complys does those things until tested. The HSA's free BeSMART.ie service is an official alternative for building workplace-specific risk assessments and Safety Statements.

Next step: place this form where workers can actually use it, nominate a person to review new reports promptly and test the handoff on one real hazard. Keep the full assessment and Safety Statement current as the control changes.

Source and claim register — checked 5 October 2026