Risk Management Glossary
1. COSTS. Direct and indirect costs to the United States Government, State, local, and tribal
governments, international trade impacts, and the private sector.
2. EMERGENCY. A circumstance that requires immediate action to be taken.
3. HAZARD. Condition, event, or circumstance that could lead to or contribute to an unplanned or
undesired event.
4. HAZARD IDENTIFICATION. Identification of a substance, activity, or condition as potentially
posing a risk to human health or safety.
5. HIGH-CONSEQUENCE DECISION. Decision that either creates or could be reasonably estimated to
result in a statistical increase or decrease in personal injuries and/or loss of life and health, a change in
property values, loss of or damage to property, costs or savings, or other economic impacts valued at
$100,000,000 or more per annum.
6. PRODUCT LIFE CYCLE. The entire sequence from precertification activities through those
associated with removal from service.
7. MISHAP. Unplanned event, or series of events, that results in death, injury, occupational illness, or
damage to or loss of equipment or property.
8. RISK. Expression of the impact of an undesired event in terms of event severity and event likelihood.
9. RISK ASSESSMENT. (a) Process of identifying hazards and quantifying or qualifying the degree of risk they pose for
exposed individuals, populations, or resources; and/or (b) Document containing the explanation of how the assessment process is applied to individual
activities or conditions.
10. RISK CHARACTERIZATION. Identification or evaluation of the two components of risk, i.e.,
undesired event severity and likelihood of occurrence.
11. RISK MANAGEMENT. Management activity ensuring that risk is identified and eliminated or
controlled within established program risk parameters.
12. SAFETY RISK. Expression of the probability and impact of an undesired event in terms of hazard
severity and hazard likelihood.
13. SUBSTITUTION RISK. Additional risk to human health or safety, to include property risk, from an
action designed to reduce some other risk(s).
Source: FAA Office of System Safety
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Disclaimer: This material is for training purposes only. Its purpose is to inform employers of best practices in occupational safety and health and general OSHA compliance requirements. This material is not, in any way, a substitute for any provision of the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 or any standards issued by OSHA.