Gap Analysis vs Risk Assessments

### What Is a Risk Assessment? A risk assessment identifies the hazards present in a task or premises, who might be harmed and how, and the control measures in place or needed. It is a legal requirement for all work activities under the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999. ### What Is a Gap Analysis? A gap analysis compares your current health and safety management arrangements against a defined standard — legal requirements, internal standards or a recognised management-system framework such as HSG65 or ISO 45001. It identifies where your system falls short of the expected standard. ### How They Differ A risk assessment is about real-world hazard and risk. A gap analysis is about system completeness against a benchmark. Both are valuable — a gap analysis can reveal that excellent risk assessments exist on paper but are never implemented. ### LRMS Approach Where appropriate, our H&S audits can include gap analysis against legal requirements, internal standards or recognised management-system expectations — producing a prioritised improvement roadmap.