What-If Scenario Analysis
What-if analysis lets you describe a change to your work and see how it affects your risk assessment. AI models the impact on hazards, controls, permits, and competency requirements without modifying your actual document.
When to use it
Section titled “When to use it”What-if analysis is useful when:
- A client asks you to change the work schedule (e.g. “Can you do this at night?”)
- You need to add equipment or change methods (e.g. “What if we use a crane instead of a MEWP?”)
- Site conditions change (e.g. “What if the adjacent unit is occupied during our work?”)
- You want to explore alternatives before committing to a change
How to use it
Section titled “How to use it”- Open your document in the editor.
- Click What-If Analysis in the toolbar.
- Describe the change in plain English. For example:
- “What if we do this work at night?”
- “What if we add a tower crane to the site?”
- “What if there are members of the public within 10 metres?”
- “What if we extend the work by two weeks?”
- Click Analyse.
[Screenshot: What-if analysis dialog with the scenario description field and results panel]
What you get
Section titled “What you get”AI returns a detailed impact assessment:
Affected hazards
Section titled “Affected hazards”Which existing hazards are affected by the change, and how their risk scores change. For example, switching to night work might increase the likelihood score on several hazards due to reduced visibility.
New hazards
Section titled “New hazards”Hazards that did not exist before but are introduced by the change. For example, adding a crane introduces lifting operations, overhead loads, and exclusion zone requirements.
Additional controls needed
Section titled “Additional controls needed”Extra control measures required to manage the changed or new hazards. These follow the hierarchy of control.
Additional permits required
Section titled “Additional permits required”Any new permits triggered by the change. For example, night work may require a noise permit or lighting assessment, or adding hot works may require a hot works permit.
Additional competencies needed
Section titled “Additional competencies needed”Qualifications or training your team would need for the changed work. For example, crane operations require a trained slinger/signaller and an appointed person for lifting operations.
Overall risk impact summary
Section titled “Overall risk impact summary”A summary of whether the overall risk profile has increased, decreased, or stayed the same, with an explanation of the key drivers.
Acting on the results
Section titled “Acting on the results”What-if analysis does not modify your document. It shows you the impact so you can make an informed decision. If you decide to proceed with the change:
- Review the what-if results.
- Click Apply Changes to add the suggested hazards, controls, and permits to your document as a draft update.
- Or manually update the relevant sections based on the analysis.
- Run a compliance check to verify the updated document still meets regulatory requirements.
If you decide not to proceed, simply close the what-if panel. Your document is unchanged.
Cost: 2 credits per scenario.
Example scenarios
Section titled “Example scenarios”| Scenario | Typical impact |
|---|---|
| ”What if we do this at night?” | Lighting requirements, noise restrictions, fatigue management, lone working considerations, revised emergency procedures |
| ”What if we add a crane?” | Lifting plan required, exclusion zones, slinger/signaller competency, ground bearing capacity check, crane proximity to overhead lines |
| ”What if it rains heavily?” | Slip hazards increase, electrical risks from standing water, ground stability for plant, welfare arrangements |
| ”What if we need to work over a live road?” | Traffic management plan, Chapter 8 requirements, banksmen, high-visibility PPE, night working considerations |
| ”What if an adjacent contractor is doing hot works?” | Interface risk with fire hazard, coordination requirements, fire watch, revised emergency procedures |
- Be specific — “What if we work at night?” gives better results than “What if the schedule changes?”
- Run multiple scenarios — you can run several what-if analyses on the same document to compare different options
- Use it during planning — what-if analysis is most valuable during the planning stage when changes are still easy to accommodate
- Share the results — use the what-if output to communicate risk implications to clients or project managers when they request changes