Dynamic Risk Assessment
A dynamic risk assessment (DRA) is a continuous, real-time process where you identify hazards, judge risk, and apply controls as conditions change while work is underway. It’s how you stay safe when the job in front of you no longer matches the plan on paper.
What is a dynamic risk assessment?
A DRA happens during the execution phase—when you’re on the tools, on the road, or in the field—and the environment is shifting around you. It bridges the gap between “work as imagined” (the plan) and “work as done” (what’s actually happening).
Static documents like a SWMS or a risk register are essential, but they can’t predict every interaction, weather change, equipment fault, or member of the public walking into your work zone. DRA is the layer of risk management that responds to those emerging, transient hazards.
How dynamic risk assessment works in practice
Most organisations do their “static” risk assessment days or weeks before the task. That planning sets the baseline controls and defines the safe system of work.
Then reality arrives. When conditions change, you rely on DRA to notice what’s different, decide what it means, and adjust before harm occurs.
Static vs dynamic: two phases, one system
These aren’t competing ideas. They’re two phases of the same risk management system, operating at different speeds.
| Feature | Static Risk Assessment | Dynamic Risk Assessment |
|---|---|---|
| Phase | Planning (days/weeks before) | Execution (seconds/minutes during) |
| Hazard Focus | Inherent & predictable | Emergent & transient |
| Documentation | Formal (SWMS, JSA) | Informal (mental checks, Take 5) |
| Decision Mode | Deliberative (analytical, slow) | Intuitive (rapid, pattern-based) |
| Authority | Management-approved | Frontline-executed |
The DRA loop
DRA is a repeatable loop that compresses into seconds or minutes. You run it whenever something changes—new site, new conditions, a near miss, or a “this doesn’t feel right” moment.
- Evaluate the situation. Pause and scan for what’s different from what you expected. Ask: “What has changed?”
- Identify hazards. Look for what could harm you, your team, or the public right now—physical, environmental, chemical, or psychosocial. Ask: “What could hurt someone here?”
- Assess the risk. Make a functional call on likelihood and consequence (often “safe”, “unsafe but manageable”, or “dangerous”). Ask: “Is the risk proportional to the benefit?”
- Select controls. Adjust in real time: change method, add barriers, use different equipment, add PPE, or stop the job. If you’re applying controls, use the logic of the hierarchy of controls—start with eliminating the hazard where you can.
- Review and monitor. Work while watching for deterioration. If the situation changes again, restart the loop.
WorkSafeKit enables workers to document dynamic assessments, capture hazards with photos, and escalate risks instantly from the field.
Why it matters
DRA reduces your exposure to the risks that paperwork can’t see. It’s particularly critical in fieldwork, maintenance, mobile operations, and any environment where people, weather, and systems interact unpredictably.
It also turns risk management into a live operational capability. When your crews consistently identify and control change-driven hazards, you prevent incidents and reduce unplanned downtime.
Legal context: Australian WHS requirements
“Dynamic risk assessment” isn’t explicitly defined in the Model WHS Act 2011, but the need to manage emerging hazards sits inside the same duties that apply all day, every day.
Section 19: primary duty of care
If you’re a PCBU, your duty is continuous. Signing off a plan at 8:00 AM doesn’t protect anyone from a new hazard at 2:00 PM—so you need systems that support real-time identification, escalation, and control.
Section 28: worker duty and stopping unsafe work
Workers must take reasonable care for their own safety and others. In practice, that’s the legal bedrock for Stop Work Authority—if a DRA identifies an imminent risk that can’t be controlled, the safest decision is to stop and escalate.
Culture matters here. Your policy should explicitly back people who stop work for genuine safety concerns, even if the risk turns out to be a false alarm.
Common challenges
“Tick and flick” behaviour is the most common failure mode when DRA is reduced to a formality. If people feel pressured to “complete the paperwork” rather than genuinely assess conditions, you get documents without risk reduction.
Hollow assessment is another risk. If a serious incident happens and your team can’t explain what hazards they noticed, what they considered, and why they chose a control, “we did a DRA” won’t stand up to scrutiny.
Blind spots under pressure are predictable. Fatigue, noise, time pressure, and complacency all degrade situational awareness and decision quality—especially in repetitive tasks where the environment still changes, just more subtly.
Best practices
Good DRA is a skill supported by systems. You’re not trying to turn every worker into a risk engineer—you’re giving them the prompts, authority, and capability to act safely when reality diverges from the plan.
Build situational awareness
You can’t control hazards you don’t perceive. Improve the basics—lighting, access, housekeeping, communication—and manage fatigue so people can notice and interpret weak signals before they become incidents.
Train for recognition, not just rules
Experienced workers often make better DRA decisions because they recognise patterns quickly. Simulation-based training (VR, drills, realistic scenarios) helps juniors build “synthetic experience” so their judgement improves faster.
Make thinking visible
Encourage seniors to “think out loud” while they work: what they’re noticing, what worries them, and what control they’re choosing. This turns invisible cognitive work into something teachable, coachable, and auditable.
Use structured tools without creating safety clutter
Mnemonics like Take 5 can work as cognitive triggers—especially at the start of a task or when conditions change. The goal is quality of thought, not volume of paperwork: audit decisions and hazards found, not cards completed.
Take 5 (Mining and Construction): Stop → Think → Identify → Plan → Proceed
STAR (Healthcare and Light Industry): Stop → Think → Act → Review
Back your people when they stop work
DRA only works if workers believe they can pause, change method, or stop without being punished for delays. If production pressure wins every time, your system will drift toward “tick and flick” and risk will accumulate until it breaks through.
Track Take 5 completion, reward safety interventions, and analyse patterns across your workforce with WorkSafeKit's analytics.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do dynamic risk assessments need to be documented?
Usually not in the moment—DRA is often too fast to write down during active work or emergencies. Record significant decisions afterwards (e.g., stopping work, changing method) in site diaries, radio logs, or debrief notes. If it matters legally, you need evidence it actually happened.
Can a DRA override a Safe Work Method Statement?
Yes, but only towards increased safety. If a SWMS says “use a ladder” and conditions make that unsafe, DRA supports choosing a safer method. DRA is for adding controls or stopping work—not lowering the safety standard.
What's the difference between DRA and Take 5?
DRA is the ongoing process. Take 5 is one structured tool you can use to trigger that thinking, often as a short pause at the start of a task or when conditions change.
Who is responsible for DRA?
Everyone has a role. As a PCBU, you provide systems, training, and authority; workers apply DRA moment to moment and speak up when risks emerge. In teams, leaders may guide decisions, but no one can outsource their situational awareness.
What is "hollow assessment" and why does it matter?
It’s when people claim they assessed risk but can’t explain what hazards they identified or what controls they chose. In investigations and inquests, “I did a DRA” isn’t a defence on its own. Decision quality—and evidence of it—is what holds up.
References and Further Reading
- Safe Work Australia - Model WHS Act and Regulations
- WorkSafe Victoria - Compliance and Enforcement Resources
- UK Health and Safety Executive - Dynamic Risk Assessment Guidance
- Wikipedia - Situational Awareness (Endsley Model)
- Gary Klein - Sources of Power: How People Make Decisions (Recognition-Primed Decision Making)
- Daniel Kahneman - Thinking, Fast and Slow (System 1 and System 2 Thinking)