7. Mistakes to avoid

7.1 Don't confuse the notions of danger and risk

It is very common to find a lack of understanding of the concepts of hazard and risk. This lack of understanding leads to results that are not representative of reality, and hence to incomplete or erroneous risk assessments. It is essential to review the definitions of these two terms and validate these risk analyses:

• Hazard: the intrinsic property or capacity of a piece of equipment, a substance or a work method to cause damage to workers' health. In other words, the hazard is the cause.

• Risk: the combination of probability and consequence(s) of the occurrence of a specified hazardous event. In other words, risk is consequence.