residual risk

[Peter]

Dear Members,

I couldn't able to understand about residual risk. Kindly provide an example to understand about residual risk.

Regards,
saitha

If you throw a random person in the swimming pool without warning, there is a risk that they will drown. If you attempt to mitigate that by selecting a person who has had swimming lessons, the risk will be lower because at least you know they should be able to swim. If you warn the person they are about to be thrown in the water, the risk falls further because they are prepared for what is about to happen to them. You could mitigate it further by providing a life guard in case they still get into trouble and a paramedic team to lessen the severity. Despite taking all of the reasonable mitigation measures, there is the residual risk that something highly unlikely will cause them to drown. Residual risk is the element that is left when you have put in place a set of measures.

It may be that the residual risk is tolerable, in which case you carry on. It may be that it is not and you have to look for further mitigations or alternative ways of working.