Core Information Standard: Reports
Clinical Safety Case Report15 Appendix A – Risk Matrix (page 44 of 18) in Clinical Safety Case Report (chapter 3 of 5) within Core Information Standard: Reports
| Likelihood | Very High | 3 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 5 |
|---|
| High | 2 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 5 |
|---|
| Medium | 2 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 4 |
|---|
| Low | 1 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 4 |
|---|
| Very low | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 3 |
|---|
| Minor | Significant | Considerable | Major | Catastrophic |
|---|
| Consequence |
| Likelihood Category | Interpretation |
|---|
| Very high | Certain or almost certain; highly likely to occur |
| High | Not certain but very possible; reasonably expected to occur in the majority of cases |
| Medium | Possible |
| Low |
Could occur but in the great majority of occasions will not |
| Very low |
Negligible or nearly negligible possibility of occurring |
| Consequence Category |
Interpretation |
| Consequence |
Patients Affected |
| Catastrophic |
Death |
Multiple |
| Permanent life-changing incapacity and any condition for which the prognosis is death or permanent life-changing incapacity; severe injury or severe incapacity from which recovery is not expected in the short term |
Multiple |
| Major |
Death |
Single |
| Permanent life-changing incapacity and any condition for which the prognosis is death or permanent life-changing incapacity; severe injury or severe incapacity from which recovery is not expected in the short term |
Single |
| Severe injury or severe incapacity from which recovery is expected in the short term |
Multiple |
| Severe psychological trauma |
Multiple |
| Considerable |
Severe injury or severe incapacity from which recovery is expected in the short term |
Single |
| Severe psychological trauma |
Single |
| Minor injury or injuries from which recovery is not expected in the short term. |
Multiple |
| Significant psychological trauma |
Multiple |
| Significant |
Minor injury or injuries from which recovery is not expected in the short term |
Single |
| Significant psychological trauma |
Single |
| Minor injury from which recovery is expected in the short term |
Multiple |
| Minor psychological upset; inconvenience |
Multiple |
| Minor |
Minor injury from which recovery is expected in the short term; minor psychological upset; inconvenience; any negligible consequence |
Single |
|
Risk Acceptability |
| 5 |
Unacceptable level of risk. Mandatory elimination or control to reduce risk to an acceptable level. |
| 4 |
Unacceptable level of risk. Mandatory elimination or control to reduce risk to an acceptable level |
| 3 |
Undesirable level of risk. Attempts should be made to eliminate or control to reduce risk to an acceptable level. Shall only be acceptable when further risk reduction is impractical. |
| 2 |
Tolerable where cost of further reduction outweighs benefits gained. |
| 1 |
Acceptable, no further action required |
Page last updated: 28 July 2026