Differentiate between hazard identification and risk assessment.

Differentiate between hazard identification and risk assessment.

• A. Hazard identification is recognizing potential sources of harm; risk assessment estimates likelihood and severity and identifies controls.
• B. Hazard identification and risk assessment are the same thing.
• C. Hazard identification is about financial risk; risk assessment lists hazards.
• D. Risk assessment occurs before hazard identification.

Answer: (A)

Hazard identification and risk assessment are two sequential steps in keeping a workplace safer. Hazard identification is the process of spotting potential sources of harm—things like hazardous chemicals, dangerous machines, slippery floors, or unsafe work practices. It’s about naming what could cause injury or illness, not judging how bad it would be. Risk assessment uses those identified hazards to evaluate how likely harm could occur and how severe it could be, given factors like exposure, frequency, and existing controls. It helps prioritize what needs fixed by estimating the level of risk and then guiding the choice of protections, often using a hierarchy of controls from eliminating the hazard to PPE. The two work together: you can’t properly assess risk without knowing the hazards, and the results of the risk assessment drive what controls you implement and monitor. Options that say they’re the same thing, that it’s about financial risk, or that risk assessment comes before hazard identification don’t fit the real relationship between spotting hazards and evaluating their risk.

Hazard identification and risk assessment are two sequential steps in keeping a workplace safer. Hazard identification is the process of spotting potential sources of harm—things like hazardous chemicals, dangerous machines, slippery floors, or unsafe work practices. It’s about naming what could cause injury or illness, not judging how bad it would be.

Risk assessment uses those identified hazards to evaluate how likely harm could occur and how severe it could be, given factors like exposure, frequency, and existing controls. It helps prioritize what needs fixed by estimating the level of risk and then guiding the choice of protections, often using a hierarchy of controls from eliminating the hazard to PPE.

The two work together: you can’t properly assess risk without knowing the hazards, and the results of the risk assessment drive what controls you implement and monitor. Options that say they’re the same thing, that it’s about financial risk, or that risk assessment comes before hazard identification don’t fit the real relationship between spotting hazards and evaluating their risk.