Noun

1. The overall process of identifying all the risks to and from an activity and assessing the potential impact of each risk.
   • BBC News website, Radioactive warning on Fife beach read at http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/edinburgh_and_east/4974692.stm on 14 May 2006 - Sepa has been carrying out a risk assessment at the bay and now wants a detailed investigation to be carried out.
2. The determination of the potential impact of an individual risk by measuring or otherwise assessing both the likelihood that it will occur and the impact if it should occur, and then combining the result according to an agreed rule to give a single measure of potential impact.