PDF one-pager
Printable, single-page worksheet.
DownloadBurden budget worksheet
A one-page worksheet for documenting burden ceilings, enforcement triggers, and repair pathways for high-stakes systems.
Worksheet
Account for burden before harm.
Use the worksheet to document who pays when a system is wrong, the maximum acceptable burden, and what triggers repair.
Overview
Make burden ceilings explicit.
Capture who is harmed, the burden they carry, and what enforcement must occur.
Purpose
- Record burden in time, money, delay, risk, humiliation, and load.
- Set maximum acceptable burden before enforcement activates.
- Define repair pathways with owners and review cadence.
What this is not
- Not a general ethics framework or values statement.
- Not a postmortem or internal risk register.
- Not a compliance checklist or narrative summary.
The worksheet is a single-page accounting object. Keep language factual and avoid narrative framing.
Template downloads
Download the worksheet template.
Exports are available without using the generator.
Generator
Create a worksheet and export it.
Fill the worksheet, then export to PDF, Markdown, CSV, or JSON.
Compare revisions
Paste a previous JSON export to highlight changes against the current worksheet fields.
Detected changes
Worked example
Hypothetical worksheet summary.
This example is fictional and provided for structure only.
Summary
- System action: Automated benefits eligibility decisioning.
- Worst-case error: Denies eligible households for 21 days.
- Harmed roles: Applicants, caretakers, frontline caseworkers.
- Burden ceiling: 4 hours, $150, 7 days, ordinal 3+ thresholds.
- Enforcement trigger: Auto-pause when delay exceeds 5 days.
Example library (hypothetical): benefits denial, identity verification lockout, content moderation appeal, medical prior authorization.
- What counts as burden?
- Burden covers time, money, delay, risk exposure, humiliation, and cognitive load required to reverse, contest, or survive an error.
- How should ceilings be set?
- Set ceilings at the maximum cost a normal person should face before enforcement actions begin. Use ranges and document assumptions.
- What if a field is unknown?
- Leave it blank, note the gap in the assumptions field, and schedule the next review cadence to close it.
- Is this a risk register?
- No. It records external burden and repair obligations, not internal operational risk.
- v0.1 — 2026-05-01: Initial worksheet template, generator, and export bundle.