Risk Assessment

Headnote

A review of the fundamental principles

THE FUNDAMENTALS OF RISK ASSESSMENT are common across the various methods available:

* Identify hazards.

* Assess risk.

* Reduce risk.

* Document results.

The goal of risk assessment is to reduce risks to an acceptable (or tolerable) level. (The terms "acceptable risk" and "tolerable risk" are synonomous in this context. see Main for further discussion.) The risk reduction process is not completed until tolerable risk is achieved. Figure 1 illustrates the overall risk assessment process, which comprises seven steps. This article identifies preparations that need to occur before a risk assessment begins, and presents the basic risk assessment process in a step-by-step approach to help the user achieve the overall goal.

The Value of Risk Assessment

Although risk assessment methods have existed in various forms for many years, interest has increased in recent years because of several factors:

* Time. The design cycle is under ever-increasing compressive pressure, which reduces tolerance for late changes or safety fixes.

* Cost. Significant opportunities exist for productivity gains and cost efficiencies. (See "Conveyor Design" sidebar on pg. 39.)

* Competition. Reducing costs and increasing productivity through risk assessment improvements provides a competitive advantage.

* International influences. Through the CE mark, the European Union (EU) explicitly requires a risk assessment. (see "CE Mark" sidebar on pg. 39.)

* Capturing knowledge. A completed risk assessment can be used to capture much of the knowledge pertinent to the design being considered that can be applied to similar designs.

* Product liability. Risk assessments help reduce exposure to hazards and can support a successful defense against a product liability claim.

* Lack of standards. When industry or government standards have only general performance criteria, do not exist or have not kept pace with technological change, risk assessments provide a basis on which to make credible design decisions.

* Schedule control. A risk assessment permits a company to make reasoned decisions and move quickly to implement them.

* Customer requirements. Some advanced industrial customers are beginning to require that suppliers conduct risk assessments.

Any one of these factors could be a business reason that a SH&E practitioner might use to convince his/her company to allocate resources necessary to conduct a risk assessment. The risk assessment...