Publish, sign off and get it acknowledged

Freeze a signed version, send it to the people it protects, and let the chase run until everyone has signed.

5 min read · Last reviewed 18 August 2026

Publish a signed version

  1. 1

    From the draft, publish the assessment. Publishing freezes an immutable version carrying the assessor’s sign-off — name, date, content.

  2. 2

    Later edits happen on the live document and publish as the next version. What people acknowledged never changes underneath them.

Note: This is the property an inspector actually checks: not whether the document is current, but whether you can show what it said on a given date and who had signed it.

Send it for acknowledgement

  1. 1

    Choose the people the assessment covers and request their acknowledgement.

  2. 2

    Each person finds it in their “For me” queue and acknowledges the specific version they read.

  3. 3

    A daily reminder chases whoever is outstanding — and goes quiet the moment they sign.

Tip: Acknowledge-by-version is the point: after a re-issue, the register shows exactly who has seen the new edition and who is still working on the old one.

Keep it alive

  • The register’s attention strip shows assessments due for review, unsigned versions and outstanding acknowledgements.

  • An incident involving the risk can pull the review forward to today — the platform prompts it, so the assessment answers to what actually happened.

  • Download the PDF or use the one-page print layout when someone needs it on paper.

About this moduleRisk assessmentsThe HSE five-step method as a working editor — signed, versioned, acknowledged by the people it protects.