Breaking Down Risks

Breaking down risks

There are two elements that need to be considered, the hazard and the risk levels associated with the hazard. Risk assessments do not need to be over complicated; it is essentially only to judge whether the hazards are significant and whether or not the precautions in place are satisfactory.

A HAZARD is defined as “anything, which has the potential to cause harm” Examples of typical hazards are as follows:

Working at height with no edge protection
Working in the presence of asbestos containing materials
Working with chemicals

Once the hazard has been identified it is possible to consider the risk from that hazard.

A RISK is defined as “the likelihood of a particular hazard causing harm”. Examples of typical risks are as follows:

A person falling from height
Exposure to asbestos fibres
A burn caused by a spillage of a chemical on to exposed skin

To differentiate between the severities of the identified risks, it is important to give them a risk rating. Some systems use complicated scoring systems, although this is not necessary and a simple ‘Low, Medium or High’ will usually suffice.

To assist you with this, consider the following:
LOW - Minor impact/damage quickly repaired
MEDIUM - Moderate impact/partial loss of operations
HIGH - Disaster/very serious consequences