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# Why It's Time to Rethink Personal Risk Assessment Tools
- URL: https://www.whsbrief.com/why-its-time-to-rethink-personal-risk-assessment-tools/
- Published: 2025-04-08T00:00:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-08-07T23:16:15.000Z
- Description: Take 5s and SLAMs have barely changed since the early 2000s, and in many workplaces they've become a tick-the-box exercise rather than genuine risk thinking. This post looks at why these personal risk assessment tools are falling short.
- Author: WHS Brief
- Tags: blog

![Why It's Time to Rethink Personal Risk Assessment Tools](https://static.wixstatic.com/media/11062b_b3d99646f9a246bd91924b024073b2d8~mv2.jpeg/v1/fill/w_2500,h_1667,al_c/11062b_b3d99646f9a246bd91924b024073b2d8~mv2.jpeg) 

*Originally published by Jessica Urquhart.*

For decades, frontline workers have relied on Take 5s, SLAMs, and similar tools to assess risk before starting a task. These checklists were introduced with the best of intentions - to prompt workers to stop, think, and act before exposing themselves or others to harm.

But let's be honest: **they haven't evolved.**

## The problem with Take 5s and SLAMs

These tools became popular in the early 2000s, largely driven by large industrial and mining companies seeking simple, scalable ways to introduce risk-based thinking. They were never meant to replace real risk management processes - but that's exactly what's happened.

**Today, we consistently see:**

- Workers rushing through them without thinking
- Workers filling out their weeks' worth of PRAs, in advance
- Forms filled out after the task, just to "tick the box"
- Businesses ordering thousands each year, with little to no return on investment
- No measurable improvement in hazard identification or control decisions
- A false sense of security that workers are thinking about risk
- A belief that we can't remove them because it's the only tool we have for workers

Let's be clear: **a paper form doesn't manage risk - people do.**