Risk management Be aware. Take care. Hazards exist wherever you work. They can place you and others at risk.

Managing risk Risk management is a process to help people to eliminate or reduce the risk of injury or illness to people and loss or damage to property. The process has three steps: 1 identifying the hazard 2 assessing the risk 3 controlling the risk.

1Identifying the hazard A hazard has the potential to cause: harm, that is, injury or illness loss, that is, damage to property or equipment.

2Assessing the risk To measure risk you need to: determine the likelihood and consequences conduct a risk assessment.

The likelihood of a hazard causing harm or loss is rated on a scale ranging from rare to probable. The consequence of a hazard causing harm or loss is rated on a scale ranging from insignificant to catastrophic. Likelihood and consequences rareunlikelypossibleprobableinsignificantminormajorcatastrophicmoderate

Conduct a risk assessment Use a grid to establish the level of risk. 1 Plot the likelihood on the vertical axis and the consequences on the horizontally axis of the grid 2 Find the point where the likelihood and consequence of something going wrong meet. The colour of the area in which the likelihood and consequence of something going wrong meet indicates the level of risk which ranges from low to extreme.

C O N S E Q U E N C E InsignificantMinorModerate LIKELIHOODLIKELIHOOD Possible Unlikely Rare Likely Probable MajorCatastrophic Risk assessment grid Extreme risk Low risk High risk Medium risk

To control risk you need to: eliminate the hazard reduce the likelihood or consequences of the hazard. 3Controlling the risk

To eliminate the hazard you can: remove replace repair. To reduce the likelihood or consequence of a hazard you should: follow safe work practices (conduct yourself responsibly and use equipment appropriately) wear protective gear such as eyewear, footwear, clothing.