Download the CCPS Glossary App
Acceptable Risk
The average rate of loss that is considered tolerable for a given activity.
Aggregate Risk
Societal risk for on-site workers in occupied buildings (API 752).
Assumed Risk
A risk that has been identified, analyzed, and accepted at the appropriate management level, unanalyzed or unknown risks fall under oversight and omissions by default.
Average Individual Risk
There are three Average Individual Risks; 1) Average Individual Risk (exposed population) is the individual risk averaged over the population which is exposed to risk from the facility, 2) Average Individual Risk (total population) is the individual risk averaged over a predetermined population, without regard to whether or not all people in that population are actually exposed to the risk, and 3) Average Individual Risk (Exposed hours/worked hours). The individual risk for an activity may be calculated for the duration of the activity or may be averaged over the working day.
Baseline Risk Assessment
a process to characterize the current and potential threats to human health and the environment that may be posed by contaminants migrating to groundwater or surface water; releasing to air; leaching through soil; remaining in the soil and bio-accumulating in the food chain. The primary purpose of the baseline risk assessment is to provide risk managers with an understanding of the actual and potential risks to human health and the environment posed by the site and any uncertainties associated with the assessment. This information may be useful in determining whether a current or potential threat to human health or the environment warrants remedial action.
De Minimis Risk
A level of risk that would be perceived by most to be broadly acceptable, and not requiring further reduction.
Hazard Identification and Risk Analysis (HIRA)
CCPS RBPS Element 07: This Element addresses potential scenarios of what could go wrong by identifying the hazards, evaluating their risks, and determining if additional safeguards are needed.
Hazard Identification and Risk Analysis (HIRA)
A collective term that encompasses all activities involved in identifying hazards and evaluating risk at facilities, throughout their life cycle, to make certain that risks to employees, the public, or the environment are consistently controlled within the organization's risk tolerance.
Individual Risk
The risk to a person in the vicinity of a hazard. This includes the nature of the injury to the individual, the likelihood of the injury occurring, and the time period over which the injury might occur.
Location Risk
Individual risk calculated for a particular geographical location, independent of the nature of the population, or whether anyone is likely to be present at a particular location. The calculation assumes a receptor present 24 hours per day, 365 days per year, out of doors, with no protection.
Manage Risk
CCPS RBPS Pillar III: Its nine Elements are used to operate and maintain the facility's process risks, to manage changes to its processes, and to prepare for and safely respond to incidents.
Probabilistic Risk Assessment (PRA)
A commonly used term in the nuclear industry to describe the quantitative evaluation of risk using probability theory.
Qualitative Risk Analysis
Based primarily on description and comparison using historical experience and engineering judgment, with little quantification of the hazards, consequences, likelihood, or level of risk.
Quantitative Risk Analysis (QRA)
The systematic development of numerical estimates of the expected frequency and severity of potential incidents associated with a facility or operation based on engineering evaluation and mathematical techniques.
Quantitative Risk Assessment (QRA)
The use of Quantitative Risk Analysis results to make decisions, either through relative ranking of risk reduction strategies or through comparison with risk targets.
Quantitative Risk Assessment (QRA)
A quantitative evaluation of the overall risk, determined by combining the frequencies and consequences of potential incident scenarios.
Risk
A measure of human injury, environmental damage, or economic loss in terms of both the incident likelihood and the magnitude of the injury or loss.
A simplified version of this relationship expresses risk as the product of the Frequency and the Consequence of an incident (i.e., Risk = Frequency x Consequence). For example, Frequency may be expressed as "events/year" and Consequence as "impact/event" (F = 1 release/year; C = 1 fatality/release; with R = 1 fatality/year for the release scenario).
Risk Acceptance Criteria
See Risk tolerance criteria.
Risk Analysis
The estimation of scenario, process, facility and/or organizational risk by identifying potential incident scenarios, then evaluating and combining the expected frequency and impact of each scenario having a consequence of concern, then summing the scenario risks if necessary to obtain the total risk estimate for the level at which the risk analysis is being performed.
Risk Assessment
The process by which the results of a risk analysis (i.e., risk estimates) are used to make decisions, either through relative ranking of risk reduction strategies or through comparison with risk targets.
Risk Based Approach
A quantitative risk assessment methodology used for building siting evaluation that takes into consideration numerical values for both the consequences and frequencies of explosion, fire, or toxic material release.
Risk Based Inspection
A risk assessment and management process that is focused on loss of containment of pressurized equipment in processing facilities, due to material deterioration. These risks are managed primarily through equipment inspection.
Risk Based Process Safety (RBPS)
The Center for Chemical Process Safety's process safety management system approach that uses risk-based strategies and implementation tactics that are commensurate with the risk-based need for process safety activities, availability of resources, and existing process safety culture to design, correct, and improve process safety management activities.
Risk Contour
Lines that connect points of equal risk around the facility ("isorisk" lines).
Risk Control Measure
Characteristic associated with a process that is expected to reduce the likelihood and/or severity of a loss event.
Risk Escalation
A risk management system whereby an increasingly higher level of authorization is required to sanction the continued tolerance of increasingly higher levels of risk. Some organizations use the term risk elevation.
Risk Estimation
Combining the estimated consequences and likelihood of all incident outcomes from all selected incidents to provide a measure of risk.
Risk Evaluation
Comparison of results of a qualitative or quantitative risk analysis coupled with an appraisal of the significance of the results, both overall and from individual events.
Risk Evaluation Criteria
A qualitative or quantitative expression of the level of risk that an individual or organization is willing to assume in return for the benefits obtained from the associated activity.
Risk Factor
Along with the probability that an event will occur (risk) are those factors of behavior, lifestyle, environment, or heredity associated with increasing or decreasing that probability.
Risk Management
The systematic application of management policies, procedures, and practices to the tasks of analyzing, assessing, and controlling risk in order to protect employees, the general public, the environment, and company assets, while avoiding business interruptions. Includes decisions to use suitable engineering and administrative controls for reducing risk.
Risk Matrix
A tabular approach for presenting risk tolerance criteria, typically involving graduated scales of incident likelihood on the Y-axis and incident consequences on the X-Axis. Each cell in the table (at intersecting values of incident likelihood and incident consequences) represents a particular level of risk.
Risk Targets
Objective-based risk criteria established as goals or guidelines for performance.
Risk Tolerance
The maximum level of risk of a particular technical process or activity that an individual or organization accepts to acquire the benefits of the process or activity.
Risk Tolerance Criteria
A predetermined measure of risk used to aid decisions about whether further efforts to reduce the risk are warranted.
Risk-Based Inspection (RBI)
A systematic approach for identifying credible failure mechanisms and using equipment failure consequences and likelihood to determine inspection strategies for equipment.
Security Risk
The potential for damage to, or loss of, an asset. Risk, in the context of chemical process security, is the potential for the intentional event outcome to be realized. Typical examples include an intentional release of hazardous materials from containment, the theft of chemicals that could later be used as weapons, the contamination of chemicals that may later harm the public, the economic costs of the damage, or disruption of the chemical process or other nearby critical infrastructure. Therefore, risk is an expression of the likelihood (LAS) that a specific vulnerability (V) of a particular attractive target (AT) will be exploited by a defined threat (T) to cause a given consequence (C).
Semi-Quantitative Risk Analysis
Risk analysis methodology that includes some degree of quantification of consequence, likelihood, and/or risk level.
Societal Risk
A measure of risk to a group of people. It is most often expressed in terms of the frequency distribution of multiple casualty events.
Tolerable Risk Level
The maximum level of risk of a particular technical process or condition that is regarded as tolerable in the context of the circumstances in questions. Ref. WHEP0.
Understand Hazards and Risk
CCPS RBPS Pillar II: Its two Elements provide hazard and risk information required to plan, develop, and implement stable, reduced-risk operations in the facility.
Voluntary Risk
Risk that is consciously tolerated by someone seeking to obtain the benefits of the activity that poses the risk.