401k403(b)457 Plan529 PanBankruptcyBudgetBusiness PlanCash FlowCentral BankCredit CardCredit UnionDay TradingDebit CardDebt ConsolidationDeposit AccountDividendEconomyEmployee BenefitsEmployee Stock OptionEntrepreneurFinancial AdvisorFinancial PlannerHard Money LenderHealth InsuranceHedgeIRAInsuranceInterestInvestmentLife InsuranceLoanMicrocreditMoneyMortgageMortgage LoanPawnbrokerPensionPortfolioRetirement PlanReturnsRiskSalarySocial SecuritySpeculationStock BrokerStock ExchangeStock MarketWageWarrant
Risk
Definitions of riskHistorical backgroundRisk vs. uncertaintyInsurance and health riskInsightIn businessRisk sensitive industriesIn public worksRegretFramingFear as intuitive risk assessmentRisk assessment and management
Definitions of riskHistorical backgroundRisk vs. uncertaintyInsurance and health riskInsightIn businessRisk sensitive industriesIn public worksRegretFramingFear as intuitive risk assessmentRisk assessment and management
Risk-sensitive industries
Some industries manage risk in a highly quantified and numerate way. These include the nuclear power and aircraft industries, where the possible failure of a complex series of engineered systems could result in highly undesirable outcomes. The usual measure of risk for a class of events is then, where ''P'' is probability and ''C'' is consequence:The total risk is then the sum of the individual class-risks.
In the nuclear industry, consequence is often measured in terms of off-site radiological release, and this is often banded into five or six decade-wide bands.
* Operational risk
* Safety engineering
The risks are evaluated using fault tree/event tree techniques (see safety engineering). Where these risks are low, they are normally considered to be "Broadly Acceptable". A higher level of risk (typically up to 10 to 100 times what is considered Broadly Acceptable) has to be justified against the costs of reducing it further and the possible benefits that make it tolerable—these risks are described as "Tolerable if ALARP". Risks beyond this level are classified as "Intolerable".
The level of risk deemed Broadly Acceptable has been considered by regulatory bodies in various countries—an early attempt by UK government regulator and academic F. R. Farmer used the example of hill-walking and similar activities which have definable risks that people appear to find acceptable. This resulted in the so-called Farmer Curve of acceptable probability of an event versus its consequence.
The technique as a whole is usually referred to as Probabilistic Risk Assessment (PRA) (or Probabilistic Safety Assessment, PSA). See WASH-1400 for an example of this approach.