As of 13 August 2026, AI can only partly write a workplace risk assessment.

What to actually do

1. Hand it to a person

   The route this page recommends

   A person who owns the outcome does this end to end, worth it when the failure is dear.

2. Use a tool built for this

   Second choice

3. Do it yourself

   The distant third

   A chat interface, chat-fluent skill, and roughly 1 hour until you can act on the result.

   How to actually do it

   1. Open the relevant HSE workplace risk assessment guidance and gather the site layout, work activities, equipment, substances, people exposed, existing controls, incident records and emergency arrangements.
   2. Walk through the workplace with the person who manages the work and record hazards that would not be visible from paperwork, including access, storage, machinery, vehicles, slips, fire arrangements and unusual tasks.
   3. Paste the gathered facts into the prompt, replacing every bracketed slot and writing "none known" or "information needed" where a fact is unavailable.
   4. Paste the draft into your organisation's risk assessment template or a document, keeping the model's missing-information and inspection-question sections.
   5. Compare every listed hazard and control with the workplace walk-through, equipment instructions, incident records and current HSE guidance, then remove anything the workplace does not support.
   6. Ask a competent person or suitably experienced manager to check the hazard coverage, risk ratings and proposed controls, and record their changes and approval in your normal safety process.
   7. Send the final assessment to the affected workers, put the agreed controls into operation, and set a review trigger for changes, incidents or new work.

   Prompt

   Draft a UK workplace risk assessment using only the information below. Do not invent hazards, people, equipment, risk ratings, legal requirements or control measures. Where information is missing, write "information needed" and ask a specific question.
   
   Workplace and location: [describe the site, rooms, access routes and outdoor areas]
   Activities and tasks: [list routine and non-routine tasks]
   People exposed: [include employees, contractors, visitors, young workers, pregnant workers and anyone needing reasonable adjustments, where relevant]
   Equipment, substances and vehicles: [list them]
   Existing controls: [describe current training, supervision, guarding, PPE, maintenance, permits and emergency arrangements]
   Known incidents, near misses or concerns: [provide details or write none known]
   Responsible person and assessment date: [provide details]
   
   Use a clear table with these columns: hazard and who might be harmed; existing controls; further action required; responsible person; target date; likelihood; severity; overall risk rating. If you use a likelihood and severity scale, define it before the table and do not assign a rating where the evidence is insufficient. Separate facts supplied by me from assumptions, and do not present assumptions as findings. After the table, list missing information, questions for a site inspection, and controls that need confirmation by a competent person. State clearly that this is a draft for workplace verification, not professional advice, and not a substitute for the employer's own assessment and legal responsibilities.

   Open it prefilled in ChatGPT or Claude, or copy it into Gemini, which takes no prefill link.