Health

Identifying risks

There are many risks because of the hazards that are all around us. Some ricks are more likely to happen, some are less likely; likewise some risks are easier to control, but some are less easy to control. Once we have identified a hazard we need to assess the risk this hazard may cause. Without thinking about it we carry out assessments on risk throughout our lives, for example when we go to cross the road (the road is the hazard) we assess the risk by checking if there is any cars coming, how fast are the cars moving and checking if there is a pedestrians crossing nearby.

Risk assessments are needed to minimise the risk. One we have done a risk assessment we can then manage the risk by either reducing it or eliminating the risk altogether.

Estimating risks

Once we have identified the rick by spotting the hazard/s, then we need to decide on the ‘likelihood’ of something happening based on the hazard. Estimating the risk is usually done through the use of a scale of 1 to 5, where 1 means not very likely to happen and low risk up to 5, where it is very possible or likely that it will happen and a high risk. On the scale the number 3 is about in the middle and would indicate that there is a moderate chance of it happening.

We also need to decide, when we estimate the risk, which is at risk and the number of people at risk. For example if your fridge at home is not looked after or used properly it is a hazard and it can produce many risks. If the food in the fridge is stored correctly then we are less at risk of suffering from food poisoning. However, if we disregard storage ‘dos and don’ts’ we are more likely to put ourselves at risk of suffering from food poisoning such as salmonella.

Controlling risks

When we control the risk we are deciding what to do to reduce or to eliminate the risk:

To eliminate the risk of tripping over a ball left on the stairs we could remove the ball from the stairs and store it where it belongs, i.e. in a...