Glossary · Risk assessment and risk reduction
Risk assessment
German: Risikobeurteilung
In machine safety, risk assessment is the overall process comprising risk analysis and risk evaluation. It is carried out iteratively together with risk reduction until the remaining risk is judged acceptable.
- Machine safety
- Risk assessment
- EU
In one sentence
Risk assessment combines risk analysis and risk evaluation; in the EU it is the basis for designing machinery and for its technical file.
Example
Before placing a robotic welding cell on the market, the integrator assesses risk for installation, operation, teach mode, maintenance and cleaning, and repeats the assessment after adding guards.
Explained in context
Context cards connect this term with others to answer one question. Also in British English and German.
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- How first principles thinking evolved: an adaptation of many adaptationsTransitional topicWhere does first principles thinking come from, and how has it changed on its way to technical writing?UKDeutsch
- Documenting foreseeable misuse without making it an optionHow do instructions describe reasonably foreseeable misuse without presenting it as a way to use the product?UKDeutsch
- Where a warning belongs: safety chapter or before the taskShould a warning go into the safety chapter or directly before the step it concerns?UKDeutsch
- Task analysis across the documentation disciplinesWho uses task analysis, and which documents does it feed?UKDeutsch
- EN 50742: safety-related security levels and IEC 62443 working togetherIs EN 50742 a sign that legislators misunderstand technicalities, and do its SRSLs contradict IEC 62443?UKDeutsch
How it applies
- EU: The Machinery Directive 2006/42/EC, and from January 20, 2027 the Machinery Regulation (EU) 2023/1230, require manufacturers to carry out a risk assessment and design the machinery taking its results into account.
- Process: ISO 12100 describes an iterative loop: analysis, evaluation, risk reduction, then renewed assessment of the modified design, including new hazards introduced by the measures themselves.
- Technical documentation: The documented risk assessment belongs in the technical file. Keep it as a living, controlled document, linked to design changes, verification and the instructions.
- Evidence: An assessment alone does not show that requirements are met. It needs the measures, verification results and information for use that follow from it.
Risk assessment vs. job hazard analysis
A machine risk assessment is the manufacturer's design-stage process. A job hazard analysis is done by the employer for specific tasks at the workplace. Both should inform each other.