Most actions are raised by something else in ASR that found a problem. Every action shows a badge for its source and a link back to it, so you can always see why the job exists. Here's each route.
From a checklist
Badge: Checklist
Someone completing a checklist flags a task as an issue, then chooses Raise Action instead of fixing it on the spot. They give it a Title, an optional Description, an Action Owner and an optional Due date.
The checklist task then shows an Action raised banner with the owner, due date and status, so whoever reviews the checklist can see the problem is being dealt with. The action can be closed from the checklist task or from the Actions page.
The link takes you back to the checklist the task belongs to.
From an audit
Badge: Audit
During an audit, the auditor raises follow-up actions against findings — from the item itself or from the audit's review screen.
These don't appear in Work > Actions straight away. They stay in draft until the audit is published, then become Open and show up for their owners. So if an auditor mentions actions you can't find, check whether the audit has been published yet.
On publication, due dates are set automatically from each finding's severity, with tighter deadlines for more serious findings.
Audit actions carry a Critical, Major or Minor severity, and View audit item takes you to the finding. Once an audit is published or closed, its actions can't be deleted — they're part of the audit record. You can still close them normally.
From a risk assessment
Badge: Risk assessment
Risk assessments have a section called Actions on the Residual Risk — measures still needed after existing controls have been taken into account. Add them there with Add action.
They appear in your Actions list once the assessment is finalised, and the link takes you back to the assessment. These only accept owners permitted for that assessment.
From a reported incident
Badge: Incident
Actions from incidents and helpline events appear in your Actions list for visibility, but they're managed on the event, not here. Clicking the row takes you to the event, their owner is read-only in the list, and they can't be selected for bulk changes.
Opening one directly shows "Action not found." — that's expected, not a fault. Work on it from the event.
Required document uploads
Badge: Document store
Where documents are required but missing, ASR raises an action titled Upload required documents. The link takes you to the documents needing attention. These close as the paperwork is provided.
Created by hand
Badge: Site action
An action created directly against a site, with no audit or check behind it. Use these for jobs that come up in conversation, on a site walk, or from a customer. See How to create an action.
These have no source record to link back to, which is the one downside — so if the job did come from a check or an audit, raise it there instead and keep the trail.
Why the source matters
The link back to the source is what turns a to-do list into an audit trail. When an inspector asks what you did about a finding, you can show the finding, the action, who owned it, when it was closed and the evidence attached.
That's why it's worth raising actions from the thing that found the problem rather than typing them in fresh.