A risk assessment involves considering what could happen if someone is exposed to a
hazard and the likelihood of it happening. A risk assessment can help you determine:
how severe a risk is
whether any existing control measures are effective
what action you should take to control the risk
how urgently the action needs to be taken.
A risk assessment can be undertaken with varying degrees of detail depending on the type
of hazards and the information, data and resources that you have available. It can be as
simple as a discussion with your workers or involve specific risk analysis tools and techniques
recommended by safety professionals.