Risk equals what?

• A. Hazard plus exposure
• B. Hazard only
• C. Exposure only
• D. Hazard multiplied by exposure

Answer: (D)

Risk comes from the combination of how dangerous something is and how much contact there is with it. The hazard is the inherent potential to cause harm, while exposure is how much you or the environment actually come into contact with that hazard. When both are present and interact, the overall risk increases, which is why risk is modeled as the product of hazard and exposure. If either factor is zero, there is no risk. That’s why simply adding hazard and exposure or considering only one of them doesn't accurately reflect the real danger. For example, a highly toxic pesticide that people don’t touch has low risk, while a less toxic chemical with heavy exposure can still pose significant risk, and a highly toxic chemical with high exposure is the greatest risk.