This article provides free, customizable risk register templates and forms in Excel, Word, and PDFformats. Learn what to include and how to identify and track risk to ensure successful project completion.
Included on this page, you’ll find a simple business risk register template, a project risk register template, and a data risk register template (among others), and learn what to include in a risk register.
Simple Safety Risk Register Template
Download Simple Safety Risk Register Template - Excel
Use this basic risk register template to evaluate safety risks, calculate the priority based on probability and potential impact, make notes on mitigation strategies, and assign the risk to a team member.
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Simple Business Risk Register Template
Download Simple Business Risk Register Template
Excel | Smartsheet
Use this basic risk register template to evaluate risks to your business, calculate the priority based on probability and potential impact, make notes on mitigation strategies, and assign it to a team member to manage.
Risk Register Template
Download Risk Register Template
Excel | Word | PDF | Smartsheet
Use this preformatted, customizable risk register template to create a targeted action plan to identify and mitigate risks as they arise. With spaceto document risk descriptions, risk owners, triggers, probability, and response plan, you can easily create a strategic plan before a project’s timelines, budgets, or resources are derailed.
Project Risk Register Template
Download Project Risk Register Template
Excel | Word | PDF | Smartsheet
Use this project risk register template as a master document to outline all potential project risks.The template includesspaces for risk category, identification date, potential project impacts, and possible mitigation strategies. Similar to the risk register template, you can leverage this comprehensive template to detail the risks involved with every phase of your project and update it regularly to maintain visibility with team members and key stakeholders. Easily identify and mitigate risks associated with your projects before they seriously impact your deadlines — and your bottom line — with this customizable template.
Data Risk Register Template
Download Data Risk Register Template - Excel
Keeping data accessible and relevant is a priority for nearly every company today. Use this template to follow risks to your data, including data compliance, data corruption, and loss of data due to failures.
For data security-related risk tracking, check out the Data Protection Risk Register template below.
Agile Risk Register Template for Information Technology
Download Agile Risk Register Template - Excel
The Agile methodology presents a unique set of challenges, due to its short cycles and self-organizing, cross-functional nature. Agile has its roots in software development and information technology — use this template to track risks during the Agile process.
Internal Audit Risk Register Template
Download Internal Audit Risk Register Template - Excel
An auditor can use this template to evaluate a department by categorizing and tracking the risks, creating a list of root causes, and determining the likely time frame of the onset of the risk.
Corporate Risk Register Template
Download Corporate Risk Register Template - Excel
For company-level risk assessment, use this free template to keep track of pre and post-mitigation impacts, the processes and documents connected to each risk, and track the risks until they are closed.
Tax Risk Register Template
Download Tax Risk Register Template - Excel
Use this tax risk register to manage risks related to taxation, including information on the type of risk, the time frame for onset, how the risk will be monitored, and any documents or processes related to the risk.
Strategic Risk Register for Schools Template
Download Strategic Risk Register fo Schools Template - Excel
In an educational environment, risk tracking needs to keep on top of the affected processes, as well as the steps within those processes. Use this template in a school situation, and manage the opening and closing dates for each risk.
Construction Risk Register Template
Download Construction Risk Register Template
Excel | Word | PDF
This template focuses on risks associated with construction projects, and can help you to identify risks before they arise, describe possible consequences, and propose risk treatment plans in an effort to eliminate project delays. Use this premade template to describe possible risks and organize them into appropriate categories, like climate, traffic and transport, and nature conservation. Pinpoint risk ratings based on the likelihoodand consequences of each risk, and assign specific team members risk action plans to create.
Risk Register Template for Banks
Download Risk Register Template for Banks
Excel | Word | PDF
This risk register template for banks works to assess and mitigate risks in the banking industry. Use this downloadable template to create a proactiveplan to identify and assuage risks and their negative impacts on banking projects, like inspection or audit issues. Prepare and update this template with potential risk activities, contingency plans, risk impact timelines, and more to keep your banking projects and day-to-day activities on track and on time.
Operational Risk Register Template
Download Operational Risk Register Template - Excel
In an operational environment, both new and ongoing risks need to be addressed. Use this template to track both kinds of risks for your operations, and record how the impact of ongoing issues changes after you implement mitigation strategies or controls.
Data Protection Risk Register Template
Download Data Protection Register Template - Excel
Risks to data can come from external or internal sources — they may be one-time events or ongoing problems. Use this data protection risk register template to keep track of the issues that can arise while working to comply with changing data protection mandates and regulations.
Human Resources Risk Register Template
Download Human Resources Risk Register Template - Excel
Because the human resources department has so many areas of responsibility, risks in HR can be separated into several different categories. Download this HR risk register template to manage risks and divide them into overarching categories in order to better manage them.
Occupational Health and Safety Hazard Risk Register Template
Download OHS Risk Register Template
Excel | Word | PDF
This occupational health and safety (OHS) risk register template targets the understanding, possible causes, and mitigation strategies involved with any foreseeable health risks and hazards associated with a project. Completing an OHS risk registeris a legal requirement for all projects that have thepotential to impact any person’s health or wellbeing, — use this template to assessany hazards in a workplace, the seriousness of the hazard, and any control factors or features that should be put in place to prevent this hazard from harming anyone involved. Prepare this preformatted template to keep hazards in your workplace at bay and prevent legal or safety issues in the future.
ISO Risk Register Template
Download ISO Register Template - Excel
The International Standards Organization (ISO) is a consortium of standards organizations from around the world that create quality standards. Risk assessment is part of the process to qualify for and maintain ISO certification. Use this template when assessing risks processes as part of your ISO certification.
Clinical Risk Register Template
Download Clinical Register Template - Excel
The healthcare industry is covered by numerous regulatory bodies, so risk assessment needs to track any laws or regulations that cover changes made in response to identified risks. Mark risks in this template as ongoing or one-time, and each risk can include required resources and actions to stay in compliance with regulations.
What Is Included in a Risk Register?
A risk register is a brief yet informational document that includes many key components that help businesses and individuals identify, assess, and mitigate any risks associated with projects at each phase, from start to finish. These components include the following:
- Heading and date
- Project title or ID number
- Project manager
- Project category
- Project impact or risk
- Risk description
- Date of risk or impact
- Risk likelihood
- Risk owner
- Risk impact
- Risk trigger
- Risk category
- Risk probability
- Risk response or action plan
- Positive and negative response options
- Alternate response options
- Cost of action plan
- Schedule of action plan
- Risk severity, ranking, and score
- Mitigation or contingency plan
- Status of risk (active, not started, ongoing, complete, dormant, retired)
You can include additional components in your risk register as well, such as residual risk, action progress, response effectiveness rating, and threat responses. Often, the risk register is included in a project’s work breakdown structure, a tool that visually breaks down a project into separate deliverables and individual components needed to complete the work. Doing so helps teams gain the most comprehensive sense of what the project entails and how to complete it.
Why Is a Risk Register Necessary?
Using a risk register adds structure and consistency to the project risk management process by having a readily-available document that targets each individual risk before it occurs. Both the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK) and Prince2 state that a risk register template is a key component of any successful project. Additionally, you can review risks at the end of each phase of a project lifecycle and assess how well each risk was handled or how proposed remedies aided in the controlof the specific risk.
You should incorporate arisk register at the beginning stages of theproject planning process. When updated regularly and shared with team members, a risk register serves as a useful tool to manage and reduce the risks associated with any given project.
Additionally, using a risk register during business planning can help you to do the following:
- Providea documentation of risk strategies
- Gradeall potential risks
- Ensurecommunication with key stakeholders and senior management, should risks come into effect
- Identifymitigation actions required to solve a risk or its impact
- Forecastand preparing a strategy for inevitable risks
- Flagunidentified risks through open communication and input from team members
- Instigate actions to reduce probability and potential impact
Although risk register templates are extremely useful for project owners as they work to identify risks and combat them, there are some downfalls in preplanning for risks someticulously. Sometimes, doing socan lead to ritualistic decision making and give a false illusion of control over situations. However, not all risks can be foreseen, which can lead to a fallacy of concreteness in project plans. Keep an open mind to ensure these downfalls don’t plague your projects, even as you begin to identify and solve risks before they arise.
Tips For Creating a Risk Register Template
As you create your risk register template for your project, keep these tips in mind to create the most effective, comprehensive documentation of risks.
- Create the plan when the project is approved as part of the project proposal or brief. Doing so ensures that all potential risks are analyzed and covered within the risk register, which can minimize potential impacts on projects if the risks come to fruition.
- Include active risks in project status reports to maintain visibility. This keeps all team members and stakeholders on the same page, which ensures transparency.
- Identify new risks or update risks as the project progresses. Risks can pop up at any time, and keeping your risk register updated throughout the project guarantees that visibility and mitigation strategies will never falter.
- Assign each risk a separate identification number to ensure continuity and clarity. Performing this step will eliminate any confusion when it comes to each risk and its subsequent mitigation plan, especially for large projects with many potential risks.
- Define risk impacts and probabilities in a manner that is easy to understand (i.e. low, medium, and high). Streamline risk and impact terminology so all team members and stakeholders understand how a risk could impact a potential project.
- Review the risk register regularly, especially before progressing to the next phase of the project. This step will ensure that all potential risks are up to date as the goals or targets of the project shift.
- Do not skip the process of creating a risk register. Risks can occurat any time, and it is important to stay ahead of them and have an action plan in mind.
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