In consequence analysis, which term describes the overall health, environmental, and economic impacts of an incident?

• A. Hazard
• B. Risk
• C. Consequence
• D. Exposure

Answer: (C)

Consequence describes the overall health, environmental, and economic impacts of an incident. It captures the actual outcomes you’d see if something goes wrong—injuries or illness in people, damage to ecosystems, and financial losses from cleanup, disruption, or liability. In consequence analysis, you distinguish what could cause harm (hazard), how much contact people have with it (exposure), and the results you’d observe (consequence). Risk combines the likelihood of the event with its consequences, but the term that directly names the effects themselves is consequence. For example, a chemical release has a hazard (toxic properties), exposure (people affected and at what levels), and consequence (health effects, environmental damage, costs).