Which statement best defines absolute risk and relative risk in fieldwork?

• A. Absolute risk measures how often a hazard occurs relative to others.
• B. Absolute risk is a measure of risk for a single individual only.
• C. Absolute risk compares risk between two different hazards directly.
• D. Absolute risk is the overall chance of harm; relative risk compares risk between hazards or groups.

Answer: (D)

In fieldwork, you’re looking at two ways to talk about danger. Absolute risk is the overall chance of harm from a hazard in a given setting or population. It tells you the base likelihood—for example, how many people out of a group might be harmed by exposure to a heatwave. It’s a straightforward probability or rate.

Relative risk, on the other hand, compares that chance between two groups or hazards. It answers “how many times more (or less) likely is harm in one group compared with another.” For instance, if a heatwave causes harm to 8% of hikers in one area and 2% in another, the risk is higher in the first area and you can say it’s 4 times as high.

So the best statement combines both ideas: absolute risk as the overall chance of harm, and relative risk as the comparison between hazards or groups. The other options mix up these ideas—absolute risk isn’t defined by comparing to others, it isn’t limited to a single individual, and it isn’t about directly comparing two hazards.