Critical is the top of four severity groups. A finding is critical when the gap would commonly cause the document to be rejected by a reviewer, or when it leaves a significant hazard without anything addressing it.
What typically comes back as critical
- An identified hazard with no control measure against it.
- Emergency procedures absent.
- Risk ratings missing — a hazard with no likelihood or severity scored at all.
- Control measures that are exhortations rather than actions: "take care", "be vigilant".
- Personal protective equipment offered as the sole control for a significant hazard.
- Blank signature fields.
How it differs from Needs Attention
Needs Attention means the document should be improved before use but is not unusable as it stands. Typical examples: a generic PPE list not tied to specific hazards, plant that appears in the scope but not in the hazard register, a muster point that looks copied from a previous site, and residual risk scores left blank after the controls are listed.
Minor covers what would improve the document without being safety-critical: superseded legislation references, inconsistent numbering, a revision history that is not specific to this project, a missing document reference number. Done Well records what the document does properly, which matters when you send it back to its author.
Why the ranking is deliberately blunt
Severity is assigned on the document, not on your site. Valify cannot know that the muster point is covered by the site induction, or that the lifting plan is a separate document held by the principal contractor. A blunt ranking that occasionally flags something you have covered elsewhere is more useful than a cautious one that stays quiet about a genuine gap — so expect to overrule findings sometimes. That is the tool working as intended.
What zero critical findings does not mean
It does not mean the document is compliant, adequate or approved. It means nothing in the fixed set of structural checks came back at that level. A document can be structurally complete and still describe a method that is wrong for the site — which is exactly why sign-off stays with your qualified personnel. What happens if you submit an inadequate RAMS covers what a document is measured against once it leaves your hands.
Was this helpful?
Still need help?
If this did not answer your question, email support@valify.co.uk and we will get back to you as quickly as we can. Tell us what you were trying to do and what happened — it saves a round trip.
Contact Support