Definition
Acceptable risk is the level of risk an organisation accepts living with after complying with legal obligations and its own health and safety policy. Three parts of that sentence matter: after the law, after the policy, and accepted.
The calculation does not decide
Whatever method is used, the number produced is a ranking. “Below this score is acceptable” does not come out of the number; it is placed there by a decision. So who set the band limits, and on what grounds, must be written down — whoever draws the line carries it.
Three things that are never acceptable
- Failing a legal requirement does not become acceptable at any score.
- Ignoring a hazard with a possible fatal outcome on grounds of low likelihood.
- Taking the acceptance decision without writing it down; an unwritten decision counts as never taken, at an inspection and after an accident.
Acceptance is not permanent
Risk was accepted under the conditions in which it was accepted. When the production rate rises, the shift pattern changes, or a new group of workers arrives (young, pregnant, disabled), the same line is reassessed.
Reasonable practicability
Where risk reduction stops is answered by weighing cost against the safety gained. But a claim of gross disproportion has to be shown: “it would be expensive” is not a justification, only the heading of one.