FRA FAQ
The five basic points of a risk assessment are: identify the hazards, work out who could be harmed and how, evaluate the risks and choose precautions, record what you find, and review the assessment when anything changes. Below is the quick reference, with links to the pages that expand each point.
Quick reference
The first point is hazard identification: walk the premises, check the records and talk to the people who use the space, because nothing later in the assessment can catch a hazard this stage misses. The second is deciding who could be harmed and how, named as groups, with particular care for anyone more exposed because of age, health or mobility. The third is evaluation: how likely each harm is, how serious it would be, and whether the existing controls hold the risk to an acceptable level.
The fourth point is the written record. It should capture the significant findings: the hazards, the people affected, the judgement reached and the actions planned, each with a name and a date attached. The fifth is review, because an assessment describes the premises on the day it was made; it needs revisiting after material changes, after incidents and near misses, and periodically in between, on a cycle a competent person has matched to the risk.
Going deeper
For the general method, what are the 5 steps of risk assessment expands each point with the workplace duties behind it, including when a written record is legally required and what review means in practice. If the first point is where you are stuck, the first step in risk assessment covers hazard identification methodically: the walkthrough, the records worth pulling and the conversations that surface what paperwork misses.
For fire, the same five points take a specific shape: the hazards become ignition, fuel and oxygen, the people at risk include everyone asleep in the building, and since October 2023 the record must be made in full for every premises, with no small-organisation exemption. What are the 5 steps of a fire risk assessment sets out that version, and what should a fire risk assessment include covers the document it should produce.
FAQ
No. They are the same sequence under different names: hazards, people, evaluation, record and review. Trainers and search results use points, steps, stages and principles interchangeably, and none of the labels is statutory. What matters is covering all five, in order and in proportion to the risk being assessed.
Yes, in proportion. A small, simple premises can satisfy all five points in a short document, while a high-rise block needs depth at every one. For fire there is no small-premises exemption from recording: Section 156 of the Building Safety Act 2022 requires the assessment to be recorded in full.
Review, with the written record close behind. Assessments are often produced once and left alone while the building and its occupants change around them. What are common mistakes in risk assessments collects the failures enforcing authorities and auditors report most often.
Capture hazards, people and controls on site and let FRA Flow draft the written record for review. BS 9792-native for UK housing. Free tier available.
