Risk Register

What this sheet is for

Hold the risks a group has identified in one place, with the controls that already exist recorded alongside them rather than assumed.

Who it is for

Charities, committees, small businesses, event organisers, project teams and trustees.

How to use it

1. Write down the scale you are using before you score anything.
2. Describe the risk as what could happen and to whom, not as a one-word topic.
3. Fill in the controls already in place first — most of the work is usually done.
4. Give every further action an owner and a review date.
5. Review the register on a fixed cycle, and date it when you do.

What is on the sheet

The layout is fixed at a size that fits both A4 and US Letter, so the A4 and Letter files are visually identical and print at full size on either. Rows are set at a height that an adult can actually write a date and a few words into with a pen — most printable tables are built in a word processor and never tested with one.

Questions

Why is there no likelihood-and-impact matrix printed on it?

Because the scale belongs to the organisation using it. A three-by-three grid borrowed from a stranger produces numbers nobody in the room can explain, and an unexplainable number is worse than no number. Write your scale in the box and the columns mean something.

Is a risk register a legal requirement?

For some kinds of organisation in some countries, something like it is. For most it is not. This sheet takes no position — check what applies to you.