Take 5
Also known as: SLAM · STOP
A Take 5 is a 5-step pre-task hazard check performed by a worker before starting work: Stop, Think, Look, Assess, Act / Manage. It is a worker-level rapid risk assessment used between a JSA and the actual physical work, often captured on a card or app.
Legal context
The Take 5 was popularised in Australian mining and civil construction in the 1990s and is now widely used across industries. Variants include SLAM (Stop, Look, Assess, Manage), STOP, and STAR. The intent is the same: force a brief pause at the work face for the worker to re-assess hazards in the current actual conditions, not the conditions assumed by the upstream JSA / SWMS. Take 5 cards capture the worker's name, the date and time, the task, the hazards observed, the controls applied and a signature. The aggregate of Take 5 cards over time is a strong lead indicator and feeds the hazard register with field-observed hazards.
Where this shows up in RAE IQ
Related terms
JSA
A Job Safety Analysis is a step-by-step task-level risk assessment: break the job into steps, identify the hazards for each step, decide the controls, assign responsibilities. JSAs are not legally named in the WHS Regulations but are a near-universal industry practice for crew-level pre-task analysis.
SWMS
A Safe Work Method Statement is a written document required by WHS Regulation 299 for any high-risk construction work. It identifies the work, the hazards, the controls (in hierarchy-of-control order), the residual risks, and the person responsible. The principal contractor must keep it for the life of the project.
Risk assessment
A risk assessment is the structured analysis of a hazard: what is the hazard, who could be harmed and how, what is the likelihood and consequence, what controls reduce the risk, and what residual risk remains. The output drives the hierarchy-of-control decisions and the SWMS / SOP / register entries that flow from it.
Platform pillars
Browse the full glossary.
47 WHS and HSWA terms with legal context, FAQs and regulator references.