How should consequences be interpreted in a risk assessment?

• A. Consequences describe the severity of outcomes (injury, fatality, environmental impact) if the hazard is realized.
• B. Consequences describe the probability of occurrence.
• C. Consequences describe project budget impacts.
• D. Consequences describe the color coding of alarms.

Answer: (A)

In a risk assessment, consequences refer to how bad things would be if the hazard actually occurs. They describe the severity of outcomes: injuries, fatalities, environmental damage, or major operational/financial disruption. This focuses on the magnitude of impact, not how likely the event is to happen. Risk is typically considered as a combination of likelihood and consequence, so understanding consequences helps determine how serious a hazard could be. The other ideas—probability of occurrence, budget impacts, or alarm color coding—do not capture the severity of the outcomes itself in the context of risk assessment.