Find the initial risk ratings
Use a risk matrix to add together the impact and likelihood assessments to find each risk’s initial rating — also called an overall or a gross rating.
Find your initial risk rating
For each risk, use its:
Organisations often have a matrix, like the example in Table 1, for showing a risk’s rating. The risk rating will be the cell where the row and column meet up for a risk’s impact and likelihood.
Sometimes, organisations have different numbers assigned to each cell. Regardless, the most important information is the zone where the risk is located.
Level of impact | Likelihood: Almost never | Likelihood: Possible but unlikely | Likelihood: Possible | Likelihood: Highly probable | Likelihood: Almost certain |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Severe |
zone 3 (orange) |
zone 3 (orange) |
zone 4 (red) |
zone 4 (red) |
zone 4 (red) |
Significant |
zone 2 (yellow) |
zone 3 (orange) |
zone 3 (orange) |
zone 3 (orange) |
zone 4 (red) |
Moderate |
zone 2 (yellow) |
zone 2 (yellow) |
zone 2 (yellow) |
zone 3 (orange) |
zone 3 (orange) |
Minor |
zone 1 (green) |
zone 2 (yellow) |
zone 2 (yellow) |
zone 2 (yellow) |
zone 3 (orange) |
Minimal |
zone 1 (green) |
zone 1 (green) |
zone 2 (yellow) |
zone 2 (yellow) |
zone 2 (yellow) |
Organising risks by importance
Organisations specify which risk ratings are of higher or lower importance — typically by sorting them into 4 levels of importance:
- red — zone 4
- orange — zone 3
- yellow — zone 2
- green — zone 1.
Knowing a risk’s level of importance allows you to report risks to the right level of reporting and risk ownership.
Evaluate the risks: Who can accept risks in each zone
Examples of initial risk ratings
Next steps — existing controls and final risk ratings
Now that you have the risk rating with no controls in place, find the:
Utility links and page information
Last updated