Severity of harm

Risk assessment starts with risk identification, a systematic use of available information to identify hazards (i.e., events or other conditions that have the potential to cause harm). Information can be from a variety of sources including stakeholders, historical data, information from the literature, and mathematical or scientific analyses. Risk analysis is then conducted to estimate the degree of risk associated with the identified hazards. This is estimated based on the likelihood of occurrence and resultant severity of harm. In some risk management tools, the ability to detect the hazard may also be considered. If the hazard is readily detectable, this may be considered a factor in the overall risk assessment. Risk evaluation determines if the risk is acceptable based on specified criteria. In a quality system environment, criteria would include impact on the overall performance of the quality system and the quality attributes of the finished product. The value of the risk assessment depends on how robust the data used in the assessment process is judged to be. The risk assessment process should take into account assumptions and reasonable sources of uncertainty. Risk assessment activities should be documented. 

Risk is defined as a measure of the probability of a hazards-related incident occurring and the severity of harm or damage that conld resnlt. 

What will be the severity of harm or damage if the potential is realized ... 

Risk is expressed as a combination of the probability of a hazards-related incident occurring and the severity of harm or damage that could result. A hazard analysis concludes with an estimate of the severity of the consequences of a hazard being realized. A hazard analysis does not require that the probability of an incident occurring be determined. Estimating incident probability is the additional and following step necessary in concluding a risk assessment. 

The speaker gave a general response saying that a risk is acceptable if the probability of an incident occurring and the severity of harm that might result are low. Thus, the speaker defined the acceptable risk level for his company. 

Risk is determined by assessing its two components the severity of harm or damage resulting from a hazard-related event and the probability that the event could occur. Table 15.1 presents a sample Risk Assessment Matrix, illustrating how these two factors are combined to obtain a risk level. A review of the many published risk assessment matrices appears in chapters titled A Primer On Hazard Analysis And Risk Assessment and Risk Scoring Systems in this authors book titled Innovations In Safety Management. 

In establishing a risk level, two judgmental estimates must be made of the probability of a hazard-related incident or exposure occurring, and of the severity of harm or damage that may result. Rarely will precise incident or exposure probability data be available, and the differences in the estimates made by risk assessors of the severity of harm or damage that can occur in a given situation may be very large. 

A hazard analysis is made to estimate the severity of harm or damage that could result from a hazards-related incident or exposure. The hazard analysis process need not include an estimate of incident or exposure probability. Examples of hazards analyses that do not include probability indicators are the estimates made by fire protection engineers of Maximum Foreseeable Loss... 

Risk assessment is a process that commences with hazard identification and analysis, through which the probable severity of harm or damage is established, and concludes with an estimate of the probability of the incident or exposure occurring. 

Table 6 shows how the severity of harm or damage categories can be related to several types of adverse consequences and levels of harm or damage. 

MIL-STD-882, first issued in 1969, is the grandfather of risk assessment matrices. All of the over 30 variations of matrices I have collected include the basics that came out of 882. They include event probability categories, severity of harm or damage ranges, and risk gradings. 

If the risk is not initially tolerable, protective measures need to be applied which will either decrease the severity of harm or the probability of the occurrence of that harm until the associated risk is tolerable. 

In all the risk assessment matrices discussed in Chapter 8, A Primer on Hazard Analysis and Risk Assessment, risk levels are based only on determinations of the probability of event occurrence and the severity of harm or damage that could result. Therefore, they are two-dimensional. 

Frequency of exposure has, historically, been one of the elements considered in determining event probability. However, giving frequency of exposure its own multiplier, separate from and in addition to a probability multiplier, diminishes the needed emphasis on the severity of harm or damage that could result from an event. 

How are licensed occupational health professionals used in the site s hazard identification and analysis, early recognition and treatment of illness and injury, and the system for limiting the severity of harm that might result from workplace illness or injury ... 

Hazard identification and analysis is a vital process. The outcome establishes the severity of harm that can result from an incident. However, event probability must also be considered to properly assess, prioritize, and act on risks. When making... 

Study of hazards using the checklists provides a sound basis for considering ways of reducing the potential severity of harm or, indeed, eliminating the hazard altogether. Clearly there is less scope for... 

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