Two Types of EHS Risk Assessments (And When to Use Them)

Risk assessments are one of the most important tools in an EHS professional's toolbox.

But knowing when to use the different types can be confusing.

Hi everyone, I'm David Lemon, an EHS specialist here at Evotex. In this

video, I'll break down the different types of risk assessments every EHS practitioner should know. A risk

assessment is how you evaluate how serious a risk is to help determine what controls are necessary to maintain it.

Different situations require different ways of thinking about risk.

So, the goal of the assessment is to better understand and manage risk, but there is not a one-size-fits-all risk assessment.

A qualitative risk assessment relies on judgment experience observation and feedback to rate a risk severity. There

are many examples of qualitative risk assessments, including a job hazard analysis for task-specific risks, workplace risk assessments for a

hazard-based approach, and personal risk assessments like a take five questionnaire. These assessments

questionnaire. These assessments commonly follow a simple formula: severity of risk times the likelihood of the risk to get to the overall consequence.

Risk matrices are often used in conjunction with qualitative risk assessments to help prioritize more severe workplace hazards by assigning a risk rating such as low, medium, or high.

While they make it simple to see which risks require the most attention, they do rely on judgment and the discretion of the evaluator, making them subject to bias and inconsistencies.

The second type is a semi-quantitative risk assessment.

These assessments use deviations to help practitioners make a calculated decision about a given risk. Two good examples of this are a business impact analysis and

a hazard operability study.

Unlike qualitative risk assessments, which assign a subjective rating or score to a risk, semi-quantitative assessments give a value, percentage, or specific measurement.

Since they deal with data, semi-qualitative risk assessments often take longer to perform because they are more rigorous. These are best used in

more rigorous. These are best used in situations where an organization needs to justify financial allocation or assess high-risk hazards like chemical handling or fire risks.

Now that we've covered the basics of a qualitative and semi-quantitative risk assessment, let's cover a few commonly asked questions.

When should risk assessments be completed?

Risk assessments should be completed whenever work changes, new hazards are introduced, controls are updated, or following an incident or near miss. More

severe risks might be assessed more frequently.

Which type of risk assessment should I use? The answer to this depends on the

use? The answer to this depends on the situation. For routine tasks and

situation. For routine tasks and day-to-day operations, a qualitative assessment is typically the best choice.

For more complex processes or financial risk, a semi-quantitative assessment can provide a more detailed analysis.

Can you use qualitative and semi-quantitative risk assessments together?

Absolutely. In fact, many organizations use multiple assessment methods as part of their overall risk management process.

What's the most important outcome of a risk assessment? Regardless of which

risk assessment? Regardless of which assessment methodology you use, the outcome should help you determine what controls are needed to manage the risk, such as routine safeguards up to

critical controls. If you're looking for

critical controls. If you're looking for more practical guidance, we've got additional videos on our channel that explore risk management and building safer workplaces.