Take 5 checklist you can print and use on site
A Take 5 is a quick personal risk check a worker does before starting a task, or when conditions change. It has five steps: stop, look, assess, control, proceed safely. Different sites word the steps slightly differently, but the idea is the same.
Download: Printable PDF | Editable Word version
The five steps
- Stop. Pause before you start and think the task through.
- Look. Check around, above and below you: plant, people, energy sources, chemicals, ground conditions and weather.
- Assess. Ask how someone could get hurt, how likely it is and how bad it could be.
- Control. Fix what you can, starting with removing or isolating the hazard before relying on PPE.
- Proceed safely. Start only when it’s safe, and stop and redo the Take 5 if anything changes.
Where a Take 5 fits
A Take 5 isn’t required by name in the WHS laws. It’s a site practice that helps meet the duty to identify hazards and control risks (model WHS Regulations r 34 and r 35), and the worker’s own duty to take reasonable care for their own safety and others’ (model WHS Act s 28).
It works best as the last check on the day, after the planning is done. It doesn’t replace a JSA for a planned task, or a SWMS for high-risk construction work (r 299).
Making Take 5s worth the paper
- Keep it short. If the form takes 20 minutes, people will tick boxes without looking.
- Have supervisors read them and act on the hazards raised. Workers stop bothering when nothing happens.
- Pull the recurring hazards into your risk register, so a problem seen on ten Take 5s gets fixed properly.
- When someone ticks “No” on a check and stops work, treat it as the form doing its job, not as a problem.
Turn Take 5 hazards into tracked actions
Recurring hazards from Take 5s belong in your risk register. In Lahebo you can give each one an owner and track the fix in action management.
Frequently asked questions
What is a Take 5 in safety?
It’s a short, five-step personal risk check done before a task: stop, look, assess, control and proceed safely.
Is a Take 5 required under WHS law?
The WHS laws don’t mention it. It’s one practical way of meeting the duties to identify hazards and control risks under the model WHS Regulations, and the worker’s duty of care under s 28 of the model WHS Act.
What’s the difference between a Take 5 and a JSA?
A JSA is planned in advance for a task, step by step, usually with the crew. A Take 5 is a quick individual check on the day, just before starting or when conditions change.
Sources
- Model WHS Act, s 28 (duties of workers)
- Model WHS Regulations, r 34 and r 35 (hazard identification and risk control), r 299 (SWMS)
