Pre Task Risk Assessment Template for Australia

A Pre Task Risk Assessment is a critical safety document that you must complete before starting any work activity in Australia. This systematic evaluation tool helps you identify potential hazards, assess associated risks, and implement appropriate control measures to protect workers and comply with your legal obligations under Australian work health and safety legislation.

When do you need this document?

You need to complete a PTRA whenever you're undertaking new or unfamiliar tasks, working in different locations, using new equipment or materials, or when workplace conditions have changed. High-risk construction work, maintenance activities, confined space entry, working at heights, and hot work operations all require mandatory PTRAs. You must also use this document when contractors are performing work on your site, when there are changes to work procedures, or when previous risk assessments are outdated. The assessment should be completed by competent personnel including work supervisors, safety officers, and relevant workers who understand the task requirements and potential hazards.

Key legal considerations

Your PTRA must demonstrate systematic hazard identification covering all reasonably foreseeable risks associated with the planned work. You need to assess risks using a standard risk matrix that considers both likelihood and consequence, then apply the hierarchy of control measures prioritizing elimination, substitution, engineering controls, administrative controls, and personal protective equipment. The document must clearly identify responsible persons for implementing control measures and specify monitoring requirements. You're required to ensure all personnel involved in the work understand the identified hazards and control measures through appropriate consultation and communication. The PTRA must be signed off by authorized personnel before work commences and updated whenever conditions change or new hazards are identified.

Legal requirements in Australia

Under the Work Health and Safety Act 2011, you have a primary duty of care to ensure the health and safety of workers and others at your workplace. The WHS Regulations 2011 specifically require systematic risk management processes, including hazard identification, risk assessment, and implementation of control measures. Your PTRA must comply with the Model Code of Practice for Managing Work Health and Safety Risks, which outlines the step-by-step risk management process. You must maintain records of risk assessments and make them available to workers, health and safety representatives, and regulatory inspectors. State and territory WHS regulators can impose penalties for failing to conduct adequate risk assessments or maintain proper documentation. The assessment must also align with relevant Australian Standards including AS/NZS ISO 31000:2018 for risk management and industry-specific codes of practice that apply to your workplace activities.