Ask a manager from the twenty-first century What is risk? , and as likely as not, you ll be told that it is an estimation of the likelihood and severity of some physical harm occurring. Health and safety managers have been busy in many organizations, and risk assessments are common in developed territories. In this understanding, some managers will use words such as frequency or probability, and some will use words such as impact or consequence. Either way, most will know that risk concerns a reasoned view of the future that can be calculated and planned. The greater the risk, the greater the need for control.

No director can ignore the risk to the reputation of his (sic) company and its brand that health and safety and environmental expectations present.

Sir Nigel Rudd, one of The Times Power 100, and holder of four FTSE directorships (in Eves and Gummer, 2005).

However, risk can, and should, be defined as any type or source of harm either perceived as positive or believed to be negative (also referred to in this book as value creation and value protection ) with potential for impact upon the achievement of the organization s stated (or formally unstated, but still obvious) objectives:

the combination of the severity of harm with the likelihood of its occurrence

From HSG65, Health and Safety Executive (1997).

combination of the likelihood and consequence(s) of a specified hazardous event occurring

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