diff --git a/.github/pull_request_template.md b/.github/pull_request_template.md
index cc7067d6f4..580719d474 100644
--- a/.github/pull_request_template.md
+++ b/.github/pull_request_template.md
@@ -1,5 +1,14 @@
+
+
+### Risk assessment
+
+For internal use only. Please select the risk level of this change:
+
+- **Low risk:** Changes are fully under feature flags, or have been fully tested and validated in pre-production environments and are highly observable, or are documentation or test only.
+- **High risk:** Changes are not fully under feature flags, have limited visibility and/or cannot be tested outside of production.
+
 ### Merge / deployment checklist
 
-- [ ] Confirm this change is backwards compatible with existing workflows.
-- [ ] Confirm the [readme](https://github.com/github/codeql-action/blob/main/README.md) has been updated if necessary.
-- [ ] Confirm the [changelog](https://github.com/github/codeql-action/blob/main/CHANGELOG.md) has been updated if necessary.
+- Confirm this change is backwards compatible with existing workflows.
+- Consider adding a [changelog](https://github.com/github/codeql-action/blob/main/CHANGELOG.md) entry for this change.
+- Confirm the [readme](https://github.com/github/codeql-action/blob/main/README.md) and docs have been updated if necessary.