What is the difference between a hazard and a risk?

What is the difference between a hazard and a risk?

• A. A hazard is a source with potential to cause harm; risk is the likelihood and severity of harm if exposed
• B. Hazard equals risk
• C. Risk is a hazard
• D. Hazard is a person at risk

Answer: (C)

Hazard vs risk: a hazard is a source or situation with the potential to cause harm. Risk is the chance that harm will occur and how severe that harm could be if exposure happens. The two are related, but they are not the same thing. A spilled chemical is a hazard; whether that hazard becomes a risk depends on whether people are exposed to it, how much exposure there is, and how toxic or dangerous the chemical is. If no one is exposed, the risk can be low even though a hazard exists; if people are exposed and the harm could be serious, the risk is high. This helps explain why describing risk as the hazard itself isn’t accurate, and why calling the hazard a person at risk isn’t correct—the person at risk is the potentially affected individual, not the source of harm.

Hazard vs risk: a hazard is a source or situation with the potential to cause harm. Risk is the chance that harm will occur and how severe that harm could be if exposure happens. The two are related, but they are not the same thing. A spilled chemical is a hazard; whether that hazard becomes a risk depends on whether people are exposed to it, how much exposure there is, and how toxic or dangerous the chemical is. If no one is exposed, the risk can be low even though a hazard exists; if people are exposed and the harm could be serious, the risk is high.

This helps explain why describing risk as the hazard itself isn’t accurate, and why calling the hazard a person at risk isn’t correct—the person at risk is the potentially affected individual, not the source of harm.