Posted By JAI I am in the middle of setting up a new risk assessment, a draft copy has been issued and approved by nearly all the managers apart from one, he has come back and asked if we can include a frequency calculation to fit in with the level of risk I have to say after reading some guidance i am a bit lost and do not like the idea of saying an accident will happen every 5yrs or so on I think this will set the wrong example to staff and give a false sense of security. what is wrong with identifying the hazards, rating them (system used impossible, possible, probable) and putting in controls The purpose of the risk assessment is to identify a hazard which is present at all times and put measures in to control it, do we really need to complicate the issue with a frequency rating Please any thoughts ps Does anyone have a frequency calculator i could look at to further my understanding Jai

Posted By Andy Petrie the bands you suggest need to relate to some sort of frequency so that people cam unserstand them probable = once per year Probably = every ten years etc. It helps people get a handle on things, especially when judging risk. i.e. 'oh yeah I rememmber one of them a few years ago, I would say it is probable then' I would stongly advise against using impossible as a definition though, try highly unlikely. If it is truly impossible, it shouldn't be on your risk assessment.