Module 8, Sub-module 8A, Page

Introduction to Risk Assessment.

Learning Goals of this sub-module

Understand the difference between Risk Assessment and Risk Management.

Know the 4 steps in a risk assessment.


Back in Submodule 1C we introduced the scientific meaning of the word "risk." A "risk assessment" is just the calculation, evaluation, cogitation, divining, or somehow expressing (choose one or several) the probability and severity of some harm. In this course we will focus on the health hazards due to hazardous waste chemicals in the environment, but the term "risk assessment" could include any type of harm from any source. In this module we will learn a little more about risk assessment, as a process. There is no textbook chapter, but we do have a good reference that you can print out, Understanding RISK Analysis by the American Chemical Society and Resources for the Future. It is a relatively short document, about 40 pages, easy to read and it is in pdf format. The publishers recently took it off the web, but gave us a copy, you can get it here and pull it down and print it. [Use the back button on your pdf browser window to return here.] You could also pull it into your machine's memory. Unlike paper, you cannot highlight or markup pages, if you get a document in pdf or html format. You can "cut" from the document and "paste" somewhere else. So one method of study is to open a study sheet in your word processing program, and cut and paste sections that you would have highlighted in a paper document.

You could stop here and read the document, or after you get through Submodules 8B and 8C. There are some quiz questions from that document.

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Module 08 Index