What does 'Avoid the Risk' mean?

• A. It may be possible to avoid specific risks by conducting the activity, task or mission in a different way. However, conducting a mission by an alternate means may present new hazards.
• B. Always proceed using the same method.
• C. Immediately implement all possible PPE regardless of task.
• D. Accept the risk and proceed.

Answer: (D)

Avoiding a risk means changing how you perform the task to remove or reduce the hazard. In practice, you look for a different method or approach for the mission that eliminates the risk, or at least lowers it to an acceptable level. But changing the approach can introduce new hazards, so you still have to reassess the overall risk.

That idea is best reflected by the option that says you may avoid specific risks by conducting the activity in a different way, while also noting that an alternate method may bring new hazards. The other choices miss the concept: sticking with the same method doesn’t avoid the hazard; trying to use more PPE for every task is about mitigation, not avoidance; and accepting the risk and proceeding is the opposite of avoidance.