Why It's Time to Rethink Personal Risk Assessment Tools
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.
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.