ABSTRACT
This chapter explores the principles of prevention that should be adopted when deciding on suitable measures to eliminate or control both acute and chronic risks to the health and safety of people at work. The principles of control can be applied to both health risks and safety risks although health risks have some distinctive features that require a special approach. A quantitative risk assessment attempts to measure the risk by relating the probability of the risk occurring to the possible severity of the outcome and then giving the risk a numerical value. The more common form of risk assessment is the qualitative assessment, which is based purely on personal judgement and is normally defined as high, medium or low. A hazard is something with the potential to cause harm. Direct costs are costs that are directly related to the accident. Indirect costs may be insured or uninsured.
