A risk-based approach aligns OSH with the business concept of risk. The business community gets risk. Once you identify your hazard and control measure, you use a matrix to determine the likelihood that the hazard is a low, medium, or a high risk to cause a degree of severity. It’s the likelihood of something happening that is risk-based.
Is there a hazard? Yes. Is it controlled? Yes. Next, what’s the risk? You can have all these hazards and evaluate all these controls, but what does it mean to the organization? You’ve got to prioritize the hazard. What is the risk of an injury, illness or fatality? Then you’ll have priority risks. Large multinationals do risk assessments — they are the foundation of a management system.