Take 5 Safety Checklist

A Take 5 is a personal hazard assessment conducted by a worker before commencing a task. It takes approximately five minutes and prompts the worker to stop and assess their immediate work environment for hazards that may not be covered by existing SWMS, JSAs, or safe work procedures. The Take 5 process bridges the gap between formal documented risk assessments and the real-time conditions that workers encounter at the point of work.

This checklist follows the widely adopted Stop-Look-Assess-Manage-Start (SLAMS) methodology. Stop: pause before starting the task. Look: observe the work area for hazards. Assess: evaluate the risks and determine if you can manage them. Manage: implement controls or seek help if you cannot manage the risks. Start: commence the task only when hazards are controlled.

The checklist includes prompts for common hazard categories that workers should check before starting any task, including energy sources, moving equipment, other workers, environmental conditions, body positioning, tools and equipment condition, and whether the worker has the skills and knowledge to perform the task safely. The pocket-sized format ensures the checklist is always available at the point of work.

A Take 5 should be completed before starting any task, particularly tasks that involve significant hazards, tasks in unfamiliar environments, tasks where conditions may have changed since the last formal risk assessment, and tasks at the beginning of each shift. The Take 5 is not a replacement for formal risk assessments such as SWMS and JSAs but a supplementary tool for real-time hazard assessment.

Many Australian resource companies, construction contractors, and industrial operators require Take 5 completion as a condition of starting work each day or before commencing each new task. The Take 5 process is embedded in pre-start procedures and is audited as part of safety management system compliance.

The Take 5 also serves as a mechanism for workers to exercise their right and responsibility to refuse unsafe work. If the Take 5 assessment identifies hazards that cannot be controlled, the worker should stop work and report the hazards to their supervisor.

How This Is Different

This Take 5 checklist is designed by safety professionals for practical daily use on Australian worksites. The hazard prompts are based on the most common hazard categories that contribute to workplace incidents, ensuring that workers check for the hazards that are most likely to cause harm. The checklist is formatted as a pocket-sized card that can be laminated for durability and carried by every worker. Generic Take 5 documents are often full A4 pages that are impractical for field use. Our format is designed to be always available at the point of work, which is when it provides the most value.