The risk assessment is the GPSR document almost every handmade seller skips — and the one a market surveillance authority is most likely to ask for. Listings and labels are visible; the risk assessment lives in your files, quietly, until someone requests it. Here's what it needs to contain, where to get an honest free template, and when it makes sense to buy the worked version instead.
What the regulation actually requires
Under Regulation (EU) 2023/988, manufacturers must carry out a risk analysis before placing a product on the market and draw up technical documentation covering it. That documentation must be kept for 10 years after the last product is placed on the market, and produced on request. For a handmade seller, "manufacturer" means you — the person placing the product on the EU market under your own name.
This isn't a lab test or a certification. It's a structured, written think-through of what could go wrong with your product and what you've done about it. A one-to-two-page document per product line, done properly, satisfies the requirement for most handmade goods.
The building blocks every risk assessment needs
- Product identification — what the product is, the batch/serial system, and a photo or description. Same identifier as your label.
- Intended use and foreseeable misuse — what it's for, who it's for, and what people will plausibly do with it anyway. (A candle will be left burning unattended. Say so, then address it.)
- Hazard identification — the actual risks: fire, burns, choking on small parts, skin irritation, breakage into sharp pieces, strangulation from cords. Be specific to the product.
- Risk evaluation — for each hazard, how likely it is and how serious the harm would be. A simple low/medium/high scale is fine.
- Mitigation measures — what you've done about each risk: design choices, warnings on the label, instructions in the listing. This is the column that turns the document from a worry-list into evidence of diligence.
- Standards referenced — any European standards you followed (for candles, the EN 15493/15494 fire-safety and labelling standards are the obvious ones).
- Date and version — so you can show the assessment predates the product's sale, and update it when the product changes.
Watch: what a manufacturer must be able to produce (including the risk assessment)
Covers what market surveillance can ask a manufacturer for — the documentation behind the listing — and points to free printable risk assessment templates.
The free option (honest version)
Free risk assessment templates exist and some are genuinely usable. Instilus offers free printable technical-file and risk-assessment templates with no sign-up and nothing you type sent to them — the structure is sound and the price is right. If you're comfortable writing your own hazard analysis from a blank table, start there. For a simple product and a seller who likes doing paperwork, free is fine.
The limitation isn't the template — it's the blank page. A generic table doesn't tell you which hazards matter for a scented candle versus a pair of earrings, what mitigation wording looks credible, or which standards to reference. You supply all the judgment. Most sellers either leave sections thin (which defeats the purpose) or spend hours researching each product line.
The done-for-you option
That's the gap a worked kit fills: the same template structure, but with completed examples for handmade categories — candles, jewelry, cosmetics, toys, soap — showing what a finished hazard table looks like for products like yours. You adapt rather than invent: swap in your product details, adjust the hazards to your materials, keep the structure and wording patterns.
Free template
- Correct structure, blank tables
- You write every hazard and mitigation
- Good if you enjoy the paperwork
- Time cost: hours per product line
Kit ($24.99)
- Same structure, worked examples included
- Adapt finished hazard tables to your products
- Good if you'd rather be making things
- Time cost: under an hour per product line
Either way, do it before you need it. A risk assessment written the week an authority asks for it is worse than useless — the date gives you away. Write it now, file it with your technical documentation, and update it when the product changes. That's the whole game.
Where the risk assessment fits with everything else
The risk assessment is one document in your technical file, alongside your product description, label copies, and supplier information. It connects directly to your labels (the mitigations become your warnings) and your listings (the warnings become your safety information). Our Etsy template guide and candle label guide show the visible side; this is the file behind them.
Get the worked risk assessment
The GPSR Compliance Kit includes the risk assessment template with completed examples for candles, jewelry, cosmetics, toys, and soap — plus every label and listing template it connects to. $24.99, one time.
Get the Compliance Kit — $24.99Not legal advice. This article provides general information about the EU General Product Safety Regulation for educational purposes only. It does not constitute legal advice. Consult a qualified professional for guidance on your specific situation.