When Should You Review a Workplace Transport Risk Assessment?

Review a workplace transport risk assessment before you introduce a significant change—not after the new route, vehicle or work pattern has already created a conflict. Review it again when the assessment may no longer be valid, controls are not working, workers report problems, or an accident or near miss exposes a gap. Temporary changes count: a short installation project, seasonal stock build-up or blocked aisle can alter traffic risk just as materially as a permanent redesign.

What does the law require?

In Great Britain, regulation 3 of the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999 requires employers to make a suitable and sufficient assessment of risks to employees and other people affected by the undertaking. The assessment must be reviewed if there is reason to suspect it is no longer valid or if there has been a significant change in the matters to which it relates. Where a review shows that changes are needed, the assessment must be amended.

The law does not create one universal annual expiry date for every transport assessment. HSE guidance says the assessment should be reviewed regularly and should include a review date that reflects the type of work and how quickly it changes. More importantly, HSE tells employers to assess risk before making significant changes and to keep the assessment aligned with current working practices and equipment.

That distinction matters. A scheduled review is a backstop, not permission to operate an altered route for months while waiting for the diary date. The assessment must describe the workplace people are actually using.

Which changes should trigger a review?

HSE specifically identifies new vehicles, changed traffic routes and changes to the nature of the work as sources of new workplace-transport hazards. In practice, review the assessment before introducing changes such as:

• a vehicle or pedestrian route being moved, narrowed, reversed, shared or temporarily closed;
• new forklifts, pallet trucks, yard vehicles, automated vehicles or attachments;
• a different vehicle size, turning circle, load, stopping distance or driver field of vision;
• new racking, machinery, skips, storage, hoarding or parked stock that affects clearance or visibility;
• more deliveries, vehicle movements, pedestrians, agency workers or contractors;
• changed loading bays, waste collections, shift handovers or delivery windows;
• night work, reduced lighting, bad weather or a deteriorated road surface;
• a construction, maintenance or installation project within an operating site;
• an accident, near miss, damage event or repeated breach of traffic rules; or
• worker feedback, observations or CCTV showing that people use shortcuts or controls are ineffective.

A change can be significant because of its consequences, not just its size or duration. Moving one barrier may create a blind corner. Parking a contractor’s equipment may force pedestrians into a vehicle route. Adding one high-volume delivery can overcrowd an otherwise suitable loading area.

Do temporary route changes need a risk assessment?

Yes. HSE says temporary workplaces and changing routes should be carefully planned and meet the same basic safety standards as permanent routes. A temporary arrangement may need even closer supervision because people are unfamiliar with it and normal signs, habits or sight lines may no longer help them.

Before a temporary change goes live, identify its start and end points, the work phase it supports and the person authorised to approve it. Consider how deliveries, fire routes, waste movements, shift changes and public access will work throughout the period—not only during the installation activity that prompted the change.

A temporary arrangement should also have an end condition. Remove redundant barriers and signs when the work finishes, restore the agreed route, brief users and verify that the permanent layout has not been left with a new obstruction or unsafe habit.

How should you review the assessment?

1. Define the change. Record what is moving or changing, when, for how long and who controls it. Include the previous and proposed arrangements.
2. Observe the real work. Watch normal operations over a representative period. Include peaks, shift changes, deliveries, waste collection, cleaning and less frequent tasks.
3. Map movements. Mark vehicle, pedestrian and cyclist routes, doors, crossings, loading points, turning areas, parking, reversing and places where flows meet.
4. Identify everyone exposed. Include employees, contractors, agency staff, visiting drivers, cleaners, maintenance staff, customers and members of the public where relevant.
5. Test visibility and space. Review the route from the driver’s and pedestrian’s positions. Check blind corners, lighting, clearances, stopping distance and trapping points with the actual vehicles and loads.
6. Consult the people affected. Drivers, pedestrians, supervisors and safety representatives may know about shortcuts, congestion and unusual tasks that a plan does not show.
7. Select controls. Prioritise eliminating the conflict and separating people from vehicles before relying on signs, high-visibility clothing or instructions alone.
8. Approve before use. Give the change an owner and do not release it until physical controls, signs, information, training and supervision are ready.
9. Verify in operation. Observe the first live use and at suitable intervals. Correct unexpected movements or workarounds promptly.

Photographs and a marked site plan can make the assessment easier to understand, but they should be dated and updated when the layout changes. An old plan with new notes around the edges is likely to confuse the people who need it most.

Which controls should be reconsidered?

Start with the layout. HSE says roadways and footpaths should be separate wherever possible. Where vehicle and pedestrian routes cross, people should have clear visibility, suitable crossing points and enough time to react. Review whether the change affects:

• physical separation, barriers, kerbs and pedestrian-only areas;
• one-way systems, reversing reduction and turning space;
• crossings, doors, gates, blind bends and junction visibility;
• route width, vehicle clearance and safe distance from fixed objects;
• road condition, drainage, gradients, lighting and obstructions;
• speed controls, right-of-way rules, signs, markings, mirrors and signals;
• loading, unloading, coupling, parking and securing activities;
• delivery booking, vehicle marshalling and busy-period restrictions;
• information for visiting drivers and contractors;
• driver competence, induction and supervision; and
• emergency access and arrangements if the temporary control fails.

Where segregation cannot be achieved, explain why and document the combination of controls used to reduce risk. A painted line or warning sign should not be treated as equivalent to physical separation where a barrier or different route is reasonably practicable.

What should the review record contain?

A useful record shows the decision and the evidence behind it. Capture:

• site, assessment owner, review date and people consulted;
• the trigger for review and whether the change is temporary or permanent;
• dated before-and-after route plans or photographs;
• vehicles, tasks and groups of people considered;
• hazards, existing controls and gaps identified;
• actions, owners, due dates and approval status;
• briefing, induction and contractor communication completed;
• the date the changed arrangement became operational;
• verification observations and any corrections made; and
• the next planned review or the event that will end the temporary arrangement.

Do not overwrite the original assessment without preserving what changed. Version history helps explain which arrangement was authorised on a particular date and whether actions were closed before use.

How should multi-site operators manage changes?

Use a common change-control trigger across the estate: a site should not alter traffic routes or introduce vehicles without reassessing the affected work. Standard fields and minimum controls create consistency, but the decision must remain site-specific because layouts, delivery peaks, neighbours and vehicle mixes differ.

Head office should be able to see proposed changes, open controls and verification status, particularly for higher-risk or shared routes. When an incident or near miss occurs, ask whether the same layout, project or work pattern exists elsewhere. Share the lesson without assuming every site needs the identical physical solution.

Contractors should receive current site routes and hazards before arriving. If their work changes the layout, the host and contractor should coordinate their assessments rather than relying on a contractor method statement that does not address normal site traffic.

Why does this question matter now?

On 23 October 2026, HSE reported that a bed-spring manufacturer had been fined £80,000 after a ride-on pallet truck collided with a forklift in a warehouse. The company had temporarily changed transport routes during machinery installation. HSE found that the new arrangement placed the vehicles on the same busy route, where visibility was limited and movements had increased, but the changes had not been properly risk assessed before implementation.

The prosecution is an enforcement example, not a new rule. It illustrates the existing duty and a recurring management failure: assessing the project itself while overlooking how it changes the wider workplace. The practical control is to make transport-risk review a gate before any layout or route change goes live.

Primary sources

• Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999, regulation 3
• HSE: Workplace transport risk assessment
• HSE: Introduction to workplace transport safety
• HSE: Separating pedestrians and vehicles
• HSE: Management and supervision of workplace transport risk
• HSE: Site layout and internal traffic routes
• HSE: Temporary workplaces and unprepared roadways
• HSE prosecution notice, 23 October 2026: warehouse transport-route changes