APV template and checklist for your workplace risk assessment.

What the template needs to cover

The employer chooses the method, as long as the APV is in writing, covers both the physical and the psychosocial work environment and takes sickness absence into account. The requirements are set out in the executive order on systematic work environment management (in Danish), which applies from 1 July 2026.

The APV must be carried out at least every three years and updated when working methods, processes or tools change in a way that matters for the work environment. The Danish Working Environment Authority (Arbejdstilsynet) has an APV tool (in Danish) with suggested questions for each industry, and the template below can be used alongside it or instead of it.

Questions for the survey

Let employees answer on a simple scale, for example rarely, sometimes and often. Ask for a concrete example when the answer is often, so the action plan can build on what actually happens. Adapt the questions to your tasks and industry.

The physical work environment

• Do lifting, repetitive movements or working positions cause pain or fatigue during the day?
• Are noise, light, temperature and air in order where you work?
• Do you work with chemicals, dust or other substances, and do you know the instructions for using them?
• Is there a risk of falls, crushing or other accidents, and are near misses reported?
• Do equipment, machines and tools suit the tasks you carry out?

The psychosocial work environment

The questions follow the areas named in the executive order on the psychosocial work environment (in Danish), plus collaboration and influence.

• Workload and time pressure: Do the tasks match the time available for them?
• Demands and roles: Is it clear what is expected of you, also when priorities change?
• Emotional demands: Is there support after difficult situations with citizens, patients or customers?
• Offensive behaviour: Have you experienced or witnessed bullying, sexual harassment or other degrading behaviour?
• Violence and threats: Have you experienced violence, threats or harassment from people outside the workplace, also outside working hours?
• Collaboration and influence: Can you get help from colleagues and your manager, and do you have a say in how tasks are carried out?

Sickness absence, for management and the health and safety organisation

• Are there periods, teams or tasks with more sickness absence than usual?
• Can conditions in the work environment be part of the explanation?
• Which changes in the work could reduce absence?

Checklist for the whole APV process

1. Plan together with the health and safety organisation, or with the employees if you are not required to have one. Agree on method, timetable and who answers.
2. Survey the physical and the psychosocial work environment with the template, so all employees are included.
3. Review sickness absence, and assess whether the work environment plays a part.
4. Assess each problem: how serious it is, how many people it affects, and what causes it.
5. Write an action plan for the problems that need to be solved over time: what will happen, when, and who is responsible.
6. Let the health and safety organisation take part in the whole process, including the follow-up, and document this in the action plan.
7. Make the action plan available to managers, employees and the Working Environment Authority.
8. Follow up on whether the actions work, and update the APV when things change and at the latest after three years.
9. Include the APV in the annual work environment discussion.

What the action plan can look like

The action plan is the part of the APV that turns the survey into change. The rules require it to describe the nature, seriousness, extent and causes of each problem, and when, how and by whom it will be solved. A simple template can look like this:

The rows are examples. Fill in your own problems.

Once the template is filled in

A survey every three years often gives a snapshot, and the action plan is often left on the shelf when everyday work takes over. It can help to make the survey shorter and more frequent and to follow up on the actions during the year.

With APV+ employees can answer in a short, guided conversation on their phone or in the browser, and management and the health and safety organisation can see an anonymous, combined picture that points to shared actions. The employer is still responsible for the APV, and the health and safety organisation takes part as before. Read also what the rules for the APV require.