27 Aug Changes to Risk Management
The Risk Management section of the Hazards and Miscellaneous modules is being upgraded. Please see below for information on how it currently works, and the changes we are making.
Changes planned
- Likelihood Changes
- Exposure Changes
- Consequence Changes
- Scoring Changes – 3 Factor
- Scoring Changes – 2 Factor **NEW**
- How this will affect our clients
- What do you need to do?
Likelihood Changes
Likelihood is the probability that during the period of exposure, individuals will actually come in contact with the hazard resulting in harm/illness as set out below:
Current scoring (6 options):
Might well be expected = 10
Quite possible = 6
Unusual but possible = 3
Only remotely possible = 1
Conceivable but very unlikely = 0.5
Practically impossible = 0.2
New scoring/wording (5 options):
Almost certain = 5
Likely = 4
Possible = 3
Unlikely = 2
Rare = 1
During the upgrade:
Any assessments that currently have “Likelihood” as “Only remotely possible (1)” or “Unusual but possible (3)” will be translated into “Possible (3)”.
Any assessments that currently have “Likelihood” as “Practically impossible (0.2)” will be translated into “Rarely (1)”.
Any assessments that currently have “Likelihood” as “Conceivable but very unlikely (0.5)” will be translated into “Unlikely (2)”.
Any assessments that currently have “Likelihood” as “Quite possible (6)” will be translated into “Likely (4)”.
Any assessments that currently have “Likelihood” as “Might well be expected (10)” will be translated into “Almost Certain (5)”.
Exposures Changes
Exposure is how frequently are individuals exposed to the hazard, and how often is the hazard present.
Current scoring (7 options):
Continuously / always occurring = 10
Daily / happens a lot = 6
Weekly / Happens on the odd occasion = 3
Monthly / Very unusual but may occur = 2
6 Monthly = 1
Yearly = 0.5
Never = 0
New scoring/wording (5 options):
Always occurring = 5
Daily = 4
Weekly or monthly = 3
Yearly = 2
Rarely = 1
During the upgrade:
Any assessments that currently have “Exposure” as “Yearly (0.5)” or “6 Monthly (1)” will be translated into “Yearly (2)”.
Any assessments that currently have “Exposure” as “Weekly / Happens on the odd occasion (3)” or “Daily / happens a lot (6)” will be translated into “Daily (4)”.
Any assessments that currently have “Exposure” as “Never (0)” will be translated into “Rarely (1)”.
Any assessments that currently have “Exposure” as “Monthly / Very unusual but may occur (2)” will be translated into “Weekly or monthly (3)”.
Any assessments that currently have “Exposure” as “Continuously / always occurring (10)” will be translated into “Always occurring (5)”.
There will also be a blank option. If this option is chosen, the risk assessment scoring will change – read more.
Consequences Changes
Consequence is the result of contact with the hazard, also known as severity. What is the potential impact of the event?
Current scoring (4 options):
Disaster = 40
Serious harm/illness = 30
Injury or illness requiring medical assistance = 15
Minor injury or temporary illness = 5
New scoring/wording (5 options):
Critical (notifiable) = 5
Major (notifiable) = 4
Moderate = 3
Minor = 2
Insignificant = 1
During the upgrade:
Any assessments that currently have “Consequences” as “Minor injury or temporary illness (5)” will be translated into “Insignificant (1)”.
Any assessments that currently have “Consequences” as “Injury or illness requiring medical assistance (15)” will be translated into “Minor (2)”.
Any assessments that currently have “Consequences” as “Serious harm/illness (30)” will be translated into “Major (notifiable) (4)”.
Any assessments that currently have “Consequences” as “Disaster (40)” will be translated into “Critical (notifiable) (5)”.
There will also be a new option “Moderate”. This will be available for all new risk assessments.
Scoring changes – 3 Factor
Currently, the risk assessment scoring is Likelihood x Exposure x Consequences.
Current priorities:
A risk score that is 3,000 or greater is classed as a “A” priority.
A risk score that is between 1,800 and 2,999 is classed as a “B” priority.
A risk score that is between 300 and 1,799 is classed as a “C” priority.
A risk score that is less than 300 is classed as a “D” priority.
New priorities:
A risk score that is 75 or greater is classed as a “A” priority.
A risk score that is between 50 and 74 is classed as a “B” priority.
A risk score that is between 25 and 49 is classed as a “C” priority.
A risk score that is less than 25 is classed as a “D” priority.
Scoring changes – 2 Factor **NEW**
Currently, the risk assessment scoring is Likelihood x Exposure x Consequences.
However, in the upgrade, a blank option will be added to Exposure, giving users the option to only use a 2 factor system – Likelihood x Consequences.
New priorities:
A risk score that is 20 or greater is classed as a “A” priority.
A risk score that is between 15 and 19 is classed as a “B” priority.
A risk score that is between 8 and 14 is classed as a “C” priority.
A risk score that is less than 8 is classed as a “D” priority.
How will this affect our clients?
If you have completed a risk assessment on a hazard or miscellaneous issue previous to the upgrade, the Likelihood, Exposure, and Consequence options you’ve chosen will translate as mentioned above.
The newly calculated risk score will display in the “Risk Score” field after the upgrade.
The pre-upgrade risk score will now display in a new field called “Old Risk Score” after the upgrade.
Because the “Previous Score” field is based on a pre-upgrade risk score that has been re-assessed, this is not easily re-calculated post-upgrade. For this reason, we have chosen to clear all “Previous Score” fields during the upgrade. If you would like a quick report that displays all your current hazard risk scores and previous scores, please use the following reports (before the upgrade is undertaken):
- Risk Assessments – found in Community Reports, categorised as “Hazards” – make sure to print or download the report – prior to the upgrade if you want this information.
- Miscellaneous Risk Assessments – found in Community Reports, categorised as “Miscellaneous” – make sure to print or download the report – prior to the upgrade if you want this information.
NOTE – the “Old Risk Score” field will be removed 6 months after the upgrade is rolled out, as most risk assessments will have been re-assessed over that time – and the “Old Risk Score” will become irrelevant.
Some newly calculated risk scores will change from one priority code to another – e.g. a “B” might become an “A”. This will not result in notification emails being sent out.
What do you need to do?
- When the upgrade to the risk assessment is live, a email to all clients will be sent out.
- Feel free to start reviewing your risk assessments – and perhaps using the 2 factor scoring – do this by changing the Exposure option to the blank option in the dropdown.
If you have further questions or require training on using the Hasmate program, please contact Hasmate.