Take 5 safety checklist
A Take 5 is the two-minute pre-task check used across New Zealand and Australian sites: stop, look, assess, control, proceed. It is industry practice rather than a legal form, and it works because it happens at the task, right before the work. Print a stack and keep them in the ute.
Take 5 safety checklist
Company: ____________
Site: ____________
Date: ____________
1. STOP and think
| What am I about to do? | N/A · Action | |
| Have I done this task before, and what went wrong last time? | N/A · Action | |
| Am I trained and do I have the right gear for it? | N/A · Action |
2. LOOK for hazards
| Falls: edges, ladders, fragile surfaces, any height where a fall could injure (a fall of 5 m or more is notifiable work) | N/A · Action | |
| Services: power overhead or underground, gas, water | N/A · Action | |
| Plant and vehicles moving nearby | N/A · Action | |
| Ground conditions, weather, lighting | N/A · Action | |
| Other trades working above, below or beside me | N/A · Action |
3. ASSESS the risk
| What is the worst credible outcome? | N/A · Action | |
| How likely is it the way I plan to do it? | N/A · Action | |
| Does this need more than a Take 5 (a task analysis, a permit, the SSSP updated)? | N/A · Action |
4. CONTROL it
| Can I eliminate the hazard or do the task a safer way? | N/A · Action | |
| Isolation, barriers or exclusion zones in place | N/A · Action | |
| Right PPE on, last line of defence not the first | N/A · Action | |
| Told the people around me what I am doing | N/A · Action |
5. PROCEED (or stop)
| Controls in place: task can start | N/A · Action | |
| NOT safe to proceed: stop and raise it with the supervisor | N/A · Action | |
| New hazard appeared mid-task: stop and Take 5 again | N/A · Action |
Completed by: ____________________
Signature: ____________________
swmspack.com · Free printable checklist. Not legal advice; adapt to your site.
Common questions
▸Is a Take 5 legally required in New Zealand?
No law names the Take 5. It is an industry practice for meeting the duty to identify and manage hazards at the task level. On many sites the main contractor requires them as part of site rules, and the SSSP records that pre-task checks are how you manage changing conditions.
▸Does a Take 5 replace a task analysis or an SSSP?
No. The SSSP is the site plan and the task analysis covers the higher-risk tasks in detail; the Take 5 is the two-minute check that todays conditions match the plan. If the Take 5 finds something the plan does not cover, that is the signal to update the plan.
If the Take 5 keeps finding hazards your SSSP does not cover, the SSSP needs updating. Regenerate yours in minutes.
Forms record the day; the SSSP is the plan the main contractor asks for before you start. Generate a site-specific one for your trade, checked against HSWA 2015.