Module 6 Handbook

Terminology and control of risks

Terminology

To decide how you are going to minimise a risk, you first need to define some key elements. These are:

• An action: the thing we want to do
• A concern: something that might go wrong
• A cause: the reason it might go wrong
• An impact: the result if it goes wrong

All of these together make up the risk.

What can you control?

Many risks start as concerns about something that hasn’t yet happened.

You need to evaluate these concerns to identify if they are:

1. Genuine
2. Likely
3. Severe

You can then address the causes and take appropriate action to minimise negative impact.

The impact is the only element of the risk that is NOT directly under your control.