A Take 5 is a short pre-task check a worker does before starting a job, or when conditions change: stop, look around, think about what could go wrong, identify the hazards, then control them or ask for help. It is not required by name in Queensland law, and it does not replace a SWMS.
This guide covers how to fill one in, a worked example, who does it and when, and where it sits next to a JSA, a JSEA and a safe work method statement (SWMS).
What is a Take 5?
A Take 5 is a quick check, written or mental, done at the point of work. Before you start, you pause and ask what could hurt you or someone nearby, and what you will do about it. There is no single official format: some businesses use a pocket card, some an app.
The Work Health and Safety Act 2011 (Qld) and the Work Health and Safety Regulation 2011 (Qld) do not mention a Take 5 by name, and we found no mention of it in the Queensland approved codes of practice we checked. A business chooses to use one. What the law does require is that hazards are identified and risks are managed, and a Take 5 is a practical way to do that on the day.
The five steps of a Take 5
Wording varies, but most Take 5 checks follow this order.
- Stop. Do not start while you are still thinking about something else.
- Look. Look at the task and the work area: other people, vehicles, overhead and underground services, ground conditions, weather, and the plant and tools you will use.
- Think. Think through the job from start to finish. What could go wrong? What has changed since yesterday?
- Identify the hazards. Write down or say out loud the hazards you found, and rate each risk, for example low, medium or high. A risk matrix helps (see the guide to the 5×5 risk matrix).
- Control, or ask. Decide what you will do to remove or reduce each risk before you start. If you cannot control it, or the risk is still high, stop and ask your supervisor.
A worked Take 5 example: a labourer using a concrete saw
This is an illustration, not a finished document. A labourer is about to cut a control joint in a driveway slab at a house where a car regularly comes and goes.
| Step | What the worker records |
|---|---|
| Stop | Put the saw down and look over the whole cutting area before starting the engine. |
| Look | Wet patch near the edge, vehicle entrance 3 m away, another worker nearby, a water hose across the path. |
| Think | Kickback, blade contact, silica dust and slurry, noise, slipping on wet concrete, a car entering, tripping on the hose. |
| Identify hazards | Silica dust: high. Vehicle entering the work area: high. Kickback: medium. Slip or trip: medium. Noise: medium. |
| Control or ask | Water suppression for dust, respiratory, eye and hearing protection, barriers and a spotter at the entrance, hose moved clear, guard and blade checked. The vehicle risk stays high until the barriers are up, so the worker asks the supervisor to arrange it before cutting. |
In a few minutes the worker found a hazard nobody had planned for, asked for help instead of carrying on, and chose controls beyond protective equipment.
A shorter example: a tradie on a ladder near a driveway notes that a delivery truck reverses in each morning and the ground is soft. The controls are an exclusion zone, a spotter and a level base.
Who fills in a Take 5, and when?
The worker doing the task fills it in, at the point of work. A supervisor may review it, but a worker should not just copy one someone else wrote. Common times to do one:
- At the start of a shift and before each new task.
- When you move to a new work area.
- When the weather, the ground, the people around you or the equipment changes.
- After a break or interruption, or any time something feels wrong.
Workers have duties too. Under section 28 of the Work Health and Safety Act 2011 (Qld), a worker must take reasonable care for their own health and safety and that of others, comply so far as reasonably able with any reasonable instruction, and co-operate with any reasonable policy or procedure notified to workers. If your business has a Take 5 procedure, filling it in properly is part of that.
What a Take 5 is not: it is not a SWMS
Section 299 of the Work Health and Safety Regulation 2011 (Qld) says a person conducting a business or undertaking (PCBU) whose business includes high risk construction work must, before that work commences, ensure a SWMS for the proposed work is prepared (or has already been prepared by another person). It must identify the high risk work, state the hazards and risks, and describe the control measures and how they will be implemented, monitored and reviewed.
Section 291 of the same Regulation lists what counts as high risk construction work. It includes construction work that involves a risk of a person falling more than 2 m, work in or near a trench or shaft deeper than 1.5 m, work in or near a confined space, and work on or near energised electrical installations or services. See our guide to high risk construction work in Queensland.
So a signed Take 5 does not satisfy section 299. For high risk construction work the SWMS must be in place first and followed. The Take 5 is the check on the day that the conditions still match what the SWMS assumed. If they do not, stop and speak to your supervisor. For ready-made documents, see the Concrete Saw SWMS or the General Construction SWMS Bundle, and for how a SWMS differs from other paperwork see safe work procedure vs SWMS.
Take 5, JSA and JSEA: how they fit together
A job safety analysis (JSA), also called a JSEA, breaks a job into steps and works out the hazards and controls for each step before the job starts, usually with the team. A Take 5 is the last check before you start and the one you repeat when things change. The JSA or JSEA is the plan; the Take 5 checks the plan still fits the site today. See what a JSA is, or use the JSEA Form Template for the planning stage.
How a Take 5 supports your risk management duties
Section 19 of the Work Health and Safety Act 2011 (Qld) requires a PCBU to ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, the health and safety of workers while at work, including safe systems of work and the information, training, instruction and supervision needed to protect people (section 19(3)(c) and (f)). Part 3.1 of the Work Health and Safety Regulation 2011 (Qld) covers managing risks:
- Section 34: identify reasonably foreseeable hazards. The “look” and “identify” steps do this on the day.
- Section 35: eliminate risks so far as is reasonably practicable, and if that is not possible, minimise them.
- Section 36: the hierarchy of control measures. Substitution, isolation and engineering controls come first, then administrative controls, then personal protective equipment, so far as is reasonably practicable. Use that order in step five rather than jumping to protective equipment.
- Section 38: review and, as necessary, revise control measures, including before a change at the workplace that is likely to give rise to a new or different risk, and when a new relevant hazard or risk is identified.
A Take 5 does not discharge these duties, because they sit with the business, but a well-run one shows workers are controlling hazards where the work happens. The Take 5 Policy & Procedure Template is a Word template that helps a business set out when and how workers do the check.
Take 5 and dynamic risk assessment
A dynamic risk assessment is the same habit done as the work happens: you notice a change, such as new weather, a vehicle, a person walking in or plant behaving oddly, and you assess it and respond in the moment. The phrase is common in industry, but the Work Health and Safety Act 2011 (Qld) and the Work Health and Safety Regulation 2011 (Qld) do not use it, so it describes a practice, not a legal document.
A Take 5 is the usual written form of it. The first Take 5 of the shift is the planned check, and each time something changes you do another. The legal link is section 38 of the Regulation, above. If a dynamic check shows the planned controls no longer work, stop and get them reviewed rather than improvising.
Consultation
Section 47 of the Work Health and Safety Act 2011 (Qld) requires a PCBU to consult, so far as is reasonably practicable, with workers who are or are likely to be directly affected by a work health and safety matter, and section 49 lists identifying hazards, assessing risks and deciding how to control them among the matters. Ask the workers who use the cards before you roll one out, and again when you review it.
Keeping records
We have not found a rule in the Work Health and Safety Act 2011 (Qld) or the Regulation that requires Take 5 cards, by name, to be kept for a set period. Keeping them is good practice. The approved How to manage work health and safety risks Code of Practice 2021 says that keeping records of the risk management process helps show how decisions about controlling risks were made and helps with later reviews. An approved code is guidance rather than law in itself, but section 26A of the Act requires a PCBU to comply with it or manage the hazards and risks in a way that is different but provides an equivalent or higher standard of health and safety, and a court can rely on the code when deciding what is reasonably practicable (section 275).
The SWMS has its own rule: section 303 of the Regulation requires a copy to be kept until the high risk construction work is completed, and for at least 2 years after a notifiable incident connected with that work. That applies to the SWMS, not to a Take 5.
A simple approach is to collect the cards each day or week, file them with the job, and have a supervisor look for repeat hazards. The Free Hazard Report Form Template gives workers somewhere to report it, and the Free Risk Assessment Template is a Word template for the more detailed assessment behind the card.
This guide is general information, not legal advice. Check the current law or talk to Workplace Health and Safety Queensland for your situation.
Templates for this job
Ready-to-edit Word and Excel templates for Queensland workplaces.
