One way to classify the hazard is to think about how likely it is that an injury may occur. People often use the terms hazard and risk interchangeably, but they are not the same.

Hazard means a thing or condition that may expose a person to a risk of injury or occupational disease.

Risk means a likelihood of injury or occupational disease.

Factors that influence the degree of risk include:

• The type of exposure, and
• The length of time of exposure to the hazard.

There are many ways to rank risks. The risk assessment grid shown here is the one used by FFRP training materials and will provide a consistent way to compare hazards and risks.

For more information, please review the WorkSafeBC Incident And Injury Reporting ^{(WorkSafeBC website)}