What different is between hazard and risk?

These Words are slightly different in meaning but unfortunately the Words themselves have a number of closely related meanings which make it difficult to pin down the difference. The following attempts at explaining the difference may explain.

1. A hazard is a dangerous object or situation. The danger may exist even without the intervention of human beings. In a dry year, a forest may be a fire hazard even if there are no people to start the fire.

A risk, on the other hand, is the possibility of a bad outcome. In making choices, we must assess the risks, or the possibilities of bad outcomes, and weigh them against the possibility of good outcomes.

If a course of action involves getting too close to a hazard, the risk may be too great to make the action worthwhile. If there is a store on fire, the fire is a hazard which makes the risk of being burned if you go in greater than the possibility of being able to steal the cash register.

2. Ok, a hazard is something that could go wrong. Leaving a cigarette burning next to curtains is a hazard, drinking next to electrical equipment is a hazard. A risk is normally something you do, climbing onto your roof on a windy day is a risk, starting a financial business during the credit crunch is a risk. Here "risk" means "a choice with a strong possibility of a bad outcome."

3. In AF ORM, it's hazards are things that can happen while risks tell you how bad it will be if they happen. Here "hazards" are the bad consequences and "risks" are the likelihood and seriousness of the consequences. A hazard is a condition that can impair mission accomplishment and a risk is a hazard that has been quantified by how much it affects the mission.

4. They can mean the same thing. A risk is taking a chance or a gamble on something; with the chance of losing what you are gambling. In Shakespeare's Merchant of Venice, a message says, "Who chooseth me must give and hazard all he hath." In this sentence "hazard" means "risk"