Framework for assessing risk

Risk is assessed by considering each identified risk in terms of two variables:

– its hazard (or consequences or impact) and,
– its probability of happening (or being realised or ‘crystallising’).

The most material risks are those identified as having high impact/hazard and the highest probability of happening. Risks with low hazard and low probability will have low priority whilst between these two extremes are situations where judgement is required on how to manage the risk.


In practice, it is difficult to measure both variables with any degree of certainty and so it is often sufficient to consider each in terms of relative crude metrics such as ‘high/medium/low’ or even ‘high/low’. The framework can be represented as a ‘map’ of two intersecting continuums with each variable being plotted along a continuum.




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