Working with risk assessment versions
Risk assessments support drafts, version history, and publishing with version notes and optional dates. On a structured assessment, create a draft, edit sections and hazards, then publish. On a PDF assessment, upload a replacement PDF as the draft content, then publish. Every revision stays in version history for the audit trail.
Before You Start
You need the Manager role (or higher) for the Risks module to create, edit, and publish draft versions. If you don't see the draft or publish options, ask your site administrator to update your permissions in Settings > User Management > Edit Access.
How to Create a Draft Version
On a structured assessment, create an editable draft from the current content, then change sections and hazards before you publish.
Open the risk assessment you want to update
Click Create Draft Version
Make your changes in the draft
The draft is saved but does not replace the current published version. Only users with the appropriate Risks permissions can see and edit the draft.
On structured assessments, selected summary widgets and their order are copied into the new draft. When you publish, the published version keeps that widget layout. Duplicates, templates created from assessments, and assessments created from templates also receive an independent copy of the selected widgets. See Customize risk assessment summary widgets.
Risk Register sections and their hazards are preserved when you create a draft, duplicate an assessment, create a template, or create an assessment from a template — just like Matrix Sections and other content.
Upload a new PDF version
On a PDF assessment, replacement content is a new uploaded PDF. Use Upload New Version instead of Create Draft Version.
Open the published PDF assessment you want to update.
Click Upload New Version.
Upload one replacement PDF. Only PDF files are supported.
Click Upload Version. While the upload runs, the button shows Uploading...
The new file becomes the draft content until you publish or discard it. You can have only one open draft at a time; a second upload is rejected while a draft is already in progress. Draft visibility, category access, site access, and distribution access still control who can view or download each PDF version.
Publish, discard, approval workflows, review schedules, effective dates, and version history work the same way as for structured assessments. Open Version History to browse earlier PDF versions. Eligible users can use Download PDF for the selected version.
How to Publish a Draft Version
Open the risk assessment that has the draft
Click Publish Draft
In the Publish Assessment wizard, select the version type
Enter a Change Description (publish note) that explains what changed
Optionally, add an Effective Date or Expiry Date using the date picker
If no approval policy is required, enable the Request Approval toggle to request a one-off review. When enabled, click Next to advance to the Select Approver step and choose a user or group.
Click Publish Now (or Request Approval if approval is enabled)
If the risk assessment has an approval workflow, the draft may be sent to approvers before it goes live. See Set up approvals and review policies for risk assessments to choose the approval template and review policy for the assessment, and Approving Content for details on how approval works for risk assessments.
How to Review Version History
Open the risk assessment
Open the Version History section
Review past versions with their version numbers, dates, and change descriptions
Click any version to view that revision. This is useful for understanding how the assessment evolved or retrieving previous risk items and controls.
How risk items work across versions
On structured assessments, each hazard has a stable link that resolves across republished versions. You can share or bookmark a risk item URL, and it remains valid after the assessment is updated and published again. The link automatically opens the hazard in the current published version.
When you switch to a different version on the assessment, the item detail page shows that version’s content. Editable drafts allow inline edits; published and historical versions are read-only.
PDF assessments have no hazard items, so risk-item links and hazard-level version behavior do not apply. Each PDF version stores its own uploaded file instead.
People & Groups in versions
On structured assessments, when you create a draft from an existing assessment, or duplicate an assessment, all participant entries are copied into the new version. Hazard-level participants are remapped to the matching cloned hazards. If a hazard is not included in the copy, its participants are not copied.
Published and historical versions are read-only, so you cannot add or remove participants on those versions. You can only edit participants on an editable draft or active assessment.
When a hazard is missing from a version
If you open a risk item link for a version where the hazard was not yet added, the page shows Not in This Version instead of a generic not-found error. The message explains that the hazard may have been added in a later version. Comments and follows on the hazard are still available in the sidebar.
Your options are:
Back to Assessment — return to the assessment page for the selected version
View Earliest Version — open the earliest version that contains this hazard
Common Questions
What do the effective and expiry dates do?
The Effective Date sets when the version becomes active. The Expiry Date sets when it stops being the current version. If you leave these blank, the version applies from the moment it is published and remains current until a newer version is published.
Can I delete a draft?
It depends on whether the assessment already has a published version.
If the assessment has a published version, you can delete the draft. In the assessment header, click Discard Draft, or open the Version History and use the discard action on the draft row. The current published version stays unchanged.
If the assessment has never been published, the Discard Draft button is hidden and you cannot discard the only draft. Instead, delete the whole assessment by clicking Delete in the header and confirming the dialog.
Can I delete a published version?
No. Version history is kept for audit trails. If you published by mistake, create a new draft with the correct content and publish again.
Can I have more than one draft at a time?
No. You can only have one draft at a time. Publish or delete the existing draft before creating a new one.
What happens to the old version when I publish a new one?
Nothing is deleted. The previous version remains in the version history. Users see the current published version by default, but you can always access past versions.
Do I need to refresh the list after discarding or deleting?
No. The risk assessments list refreshes automatically after you discard a draft, delete an assessment, or publish a new version.
See Add people and groups to a risk assessment for more about managing participants and roles.