Appendix 1 - Risk Criteria

Issue Date	Effective Date	Version
10/02/2026	10/02/2026	2.0

Level	Severity	Consequence Description
5	Catastrophic	Consequences that can prove detrimental for the whole organisation / community / individuals. (E.g. Fatalities; Fatal Drowning; Crown Liability; Irreversible Reputational Damage; Insolvency).
4	Major	Consequences which can significantly jeopardise aspects of the organisation / community / individuals. (E.g. Serious injury/illness, such as permanent disability; Non-Fatal Drowning; Significant Civil Liability; Significant Reputational Damage; Significant Financial Loss).
3	Moderate	Consequences which will have moderate adverse adverse impacts to the organisation / community / individuals. (E.g. Medical Treatment or Lost Time Injury; Regulatory Investigation; Temporary Closure; Limited Reputational Impact; Limited Financial Loss).
2	Minor	Consequences which will have minor impacts to the organisation / individuals. (E.g. Minor Injury/Illness, such as First Aid; Service Interuption; Tolerable Financial Loss).
1	Insignificant	Consequences which do not pose any significant threat and which can be left unmediated without any fear. (E.g. No injury/illness; No Interuptions; No Financial Loss).

Estimate how likely the consequence is to happen as a result of exposure to the hazard using the following table:

Level	Likelihood Level	Probability	Access to Emergency or Rescue Services is	History of Major Incidents	History of Minor Incidents	Volume of Activity / Use	Frequency of Activity	Competence in Activity
5	Almost Certain	Will probably occur more than once	30+ minutes	1 or more within a month	Daily	500+ at a time	Daily Activity or Event	No or limited awareness, skills or experience
4	Likely	High probability will occur at least once	15-30 mins	1 or more within past 12 months	Weekly	100-500 at a time	Weekly activity or event	Fundamental awareness, skills or experience
3	Possible	Reasonable that it could occur more than once	10-15mins	1 or more within past 3 years	Monthly	50-100 at a time	Monthly activity or event	Partial awareness, skills or experience
2	Unlikely	May occur once	5-10mins	1 or more within past 5 years	Annually	5-50 at a time	Annual activity or event	Intermediate awareness, skills or experience
1	Rare	May occur in exceptional circumstances	0-5mins	1 or more within past 10 years	More than annually	Less than 5 at a time	Greater than annual	Advanced awareness, skills or experience

Level	Extent	Reliability	Availability	Effectiveness
5	Very High	Mostly reliable	Always	Mostly effective
4	High	Often reliable	Mostly	Often effective
3	Moderate	Somewhat reliable	Sometimes	Somewhat effective
2	Low	Rarely reliable	Rarely	Rarely effective
1	Very Low	Not reliable	Not	Not effective

Risk Level	Response
High	Immediate – stop activity until treated. Activity can continue if risk is reduced to as low as reasonably practicable (ALARP) and subject to a detailed management plan. (E.g. Risk Management Plan, Emergency Management Plan, Supervision Plan, Dangerous Goods Management Plan).
Medium	Treat as soon as practicable. Activity can continue if risk is reduced to as low as reasonably practicable (ALARP) and subject to following activity risk assessment, standard operating procedures and sufficient risk controls.
Low	Acknowledge and manage risk by routine procedures & intuitive risk management.

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