Form library · Health and safety
DSEAR risk assessment template
For competent people recording dangerous-substance assessments. Record scope and competence, substances and scenarios and specialist decisions. Try the form below, see every question or download a blank PDF or Word copy.
Ready to use from the form library, and every question is yours to edit. Trial from £1, cancel any time.
Try it on your phone
Try it on this phone
Fill in the DSEAR assessment record on your phone now
See how the DSEAR assessment record looks on your phone
Scan the code with your phone camera. It opens the real form, no sign-up needed.
Open the live example and fill it in, just as your team would on site. No sign-up needed.
See it on this phoneEvery question is editable. Add this form to your account, then change the wording, add or remove questions and options, and make it fit your own jobs.
What risks does DSEAR address?
DSEAR requires assessment of risks from dangerous substances, including fire and explosion risks; HSE also describes gases under pressure and substances corrosive to metals within its scope. Regulation 5 requires a suitable and sufficient assessment and review in the specified circumstances. Employers with five or more employees must record the significant findings and specified information.
Last updated . Facts checked by the SiteSurvey team on 6 October 2026 against HSE DSEAR risk assessment and duties and DSEAR 2002 regulation 5 on risk assessment.
Try the DSEAR assessment record form live
Answer a few questions and watch it adapt. Your answers are not saved, and any photos you add are deleted within the hour.
This is the real form as your team would use it: questions appear as you answer, scores work themselves out and you can add photos and signatures. No sign-up needed.
Want to see one filled in? See a completed DSEAR assessment record report (PDF), made by SiteSurvey from a fictional site visit.
Fill it in on a phone or tablet
Your team completes the dsear assessment record on site in the SiteSurvey app on iPhone, iPad and Android phones and tablets. The project name and address fill in for them, it works without signal, and it syncs when the device is back online with photos kept against the question they answer.
Customers and subcontractors do not need the app: send them a link and they can fill it in from any browser.
Every question in the DSEAR assessment record template
A DSEAR assessment record with dangerous substances, release scenarios, ignition sources, existing controls, specialist references and action priorities. 6 sections and 34 questions. Follow-up questions and guidance appear only when an answer calls for them, so the person on site never sees the ones that do not apply.
Make it your own: every question is editable
This is a starting point, not a fixed form. Once it is in your SiteSurvey account you can reword any question, add or remove questions, sections and answer options, and add your own logo, so it fits the way your team works and the jobs you do.
Details you only enter once
Add this form to a project in SiteSurvey and it fills in what the project already knows, so nobody on site retypes it and every form on the job uses the same names. Anything filled in can still be changed.
- Project: the project name
- Site or premises address: the site address, from the space or the project
- Client or organisation: the project's customer
Record details and scope
- ProjectShort answer
Filled in from the project in SiteSurvey.
Fills in from the project name - Site or premises addressShort answerFills in from the site address, from the space or the project
- Client or organisationShort answerFills in from the project's customer
- Record date*Date
- Person completing the record*Short answer
- CheckThis records a competent assessment. It does not calculate hazardous zones, select explosion-protected equipment or replace a specialist hazardous-area classification or verification.
- CheckDSEAR requires assessment of risks from dangerous substances, including fire and explosion risks; HSE also describes gases under pressure and substances corrosive to metals within its scope. Regulation 5 requires a suitable and sufficient assessment and review in the specified circumstances. Employers with five or more employees must record the significant findings and specified information.
Scope and competence
- Process, premises and activities covered*Notes
- Assessor competence and specialist input*Short answer
- Scope, assumptions and assessment limitationsNotes
- Process drawings and area plansShort answer
Substances and scenarios
- Substance or scenarioRepeat for each substance or scenario. Each one asks:
- Substance, quantity and storage/use location*Short answer
- Current safety data sheet reference*Short answer
- Relevant dangerous properties and evidence*Notes
- Normal and foreseeable abnormal release scenarios*Notes
- Ignition sources and affected people*Notes
- Elimination, substitution, prevention and mitigation measures*Notes
- Remaining gaps and specialist work neededNotes
Specialist decisions
- Hazardous-area classification reference, author and revisionShort answer
Reference the competent assessment and drawings used for classification decisions. State exclusions and unresolved information explicitly.
- Equipment suitability and verification referencesShort answer
- Operating, maintenance and emergency proceduresNotes
- Information and training arrangementsNotes
Review
- Changes that require review and how they are controlledNotes
- Planned review dateDate
- Reason for review timing and responsible personNotes
Actions and review
- Are further actions required?*Choose one
- Yes
- No
- Further actionRepeat for each further action. Each one asks:Shown when “Are further actions required?” is “Yes”
- Action and evidence reference*Notes
- Person responsible*Short answer
- Target dateDate
- Action status*Choose one
- Open
- In progress
- Completed
- Completion evidence*NotesShown when “Action status” is “Completed”
- Outstanding limitations and information to pass onNotes
- Record status*Choose one
- Ready for review
- Further work needed
- Work or use stopped
- Reviewed byShort answer
- Review dateDate
- Author signature*Signature
- CheckSigning records the information entered. It does not itself certify legal compliance, remove a limitation or authorise unsafe work.
Scope and responsibility
This records a competent assessment. It does not calculate hazardous zones, select explosion-protected equipment or replace a specialist hazardous-area classification or verification.
What a useful entry looks like
Hazardous-area classification reference, author and revision
Reference the competent assessment and drawings used for classification decisions. State exclusions and unresolved information explicitly.
Classification drawing DZ-04 revision B is referenced. The proposed additional process has not been assessed and remains outside this record's scope.
Fictional example of record wording. Use the actual evidence and approved arrangements for your job; this is not a completed report or an instruction to carry out the work.
See it filled in
A completed DSEAR assessment record report, made by SiteSurvey from a fictional site visit: every answer, the photos, the guidance that applied and the sign-off, ready to send as a PDF.
DSEAR Assessment Record FAQs
How should I record “Hazardous-area classification reference, author and revision”?
Reference the competent assessment and drawings used for classification decisions. State exclusions and unresolved information explicitly.
Is a COSHH assessment enough?
A COSHH assessment addresses health risks from hazardous substances. DSEAR addresses different risks; link relevant assessments rather than assuming one replaces the other.
Does this classify hazardous zones?
No. Record the reference, author and revision of the competent specialist classification where required.
Does the form recommend equipment?
No. Record the equipment suitability and verification evidence established by competent people. The form does not select or certify equipment.
What are the limits of this template?
This records a competent assessment. It does not calculate hazardous zones, select explosion-protected equipment or replace a specialist hazardous-area classification or verification.
Can I complete this form on site and share the record?
In the SiteSurvey app the form works offline, with signatures recorded against the questions. Share the completed record as a PDF or a link. Dates and action owners are recorded fields; this form does not send reminders or update other systems.
Related
Related templates
Templates that go with the DSEAR assessment record form
A hot-work fire watch log recording the permit, watch area, responsible watchers, timed observations, handovers, incidents and authorised close-out.
A private fire hydrant record covering identification, access, visible condition, authorised test references, defects and impairment notifications.
A sprinkler routine-check record with system identity, approved schedule, visual observations, authorised test references and impairment notifications.
Use this DSEAR assessment record form with your team
Add it from the form library in one click, change any question, and every completed form becomes a branded PDF report.
Start your trial →