Risk vs Risks

Risk vs Risks

In the April 2014 issue of the Synergist, AIHA published an article I wrote entitled Risk vs. Risks – Risk Assessment Lessons from Weather Forecasting. This article discusses the three different but related concepts that individuals associate with the term risk:

1. Probability – What is the risk?
2. Relevance – Is the risk important to me?
3. Significance – How much do I care about the risk?

It is difficult to draft requirements related to risk –  as we are attempting to do in ISO 45001 – when there is a lack of clarity and consensus about what the word “risk” means.