The problem
Estates, councils and larger farms ask contractors for a risk assessment and method statement before hedge cutting on a road, working near overhead lines or spreading near a watercourse. Writing each from scratch takes about 2 hours, and a contractor asked for 3 a month spends 6 hours at the computer in the evenings.
What the AI does
Write the job facts: site, machine, the hazards you know of such as roads, overhead lines, slopes, watercourses and the public, and your controls. Paste them, with your last risk assessment a customer accepted, into ChatGPT, Claude or Gemini and ask for a draft in the same layout. Then check it line by line: you know the site and the machine, and the assistant doesn't. You stay responsible under health and safety law for the assessment being suitable and sufficient, and for working the way it says. The free plans of all three handle drafts this length.
A worked example
A contractor in Norfolk with hedge cutters and a reach mower works for two estates and the county council, who ask for a risk assessment and method statement for about 3 jobs a month.
Before
3 documents a month written from scratch at 2 hours each: 6 hours
After
3 documents drafted from notes and the last good version, then checked and edited in 45 minutes each: 2.25 hours
What it's worth
About $125£94€112A$180C$177 a month in time saved, using a free plan. That is 3.75 hours a month (6 down to 2.25) at an assumed $33£25€30A$48C$47 an hour. Paid plans of ChatGPT, Claude and Gemini, up to about $27£20€24A$38C$38 a month for one person, are optional.
How to set it up
- Write down the job facts: location, machine, road or footpath, overhead lines, slopes, water and who else will be around.
- Paste them, with your last accepted risk assessment, into ChatGPT, Claude or Gemini and ask for a draft in the same layout.
- Walk through the draft against the site and the machine and correct every hazard and control.
- Have the operator who'll do the work read it and agree it's how they'll do the job.
- Sign and send it yourself, and keep a copy with the job.
What goes wrong
- Assistants produce generic hazards and miss site-specific ones, such as a buried pipe or a blind bend. The site visit decides what goes in.
- A document that says one thing while the job is done another way is worse than none after an accident. Only write controls you'll actually use.
- Don't paste customers' contract terms or staff details into a free consumer account; the job facts are enough.