A rough chart (Figure 1) is attached which shows one widely-adopted scoring mechanism that uses simple multiplication to assess the severity of the risks and hence determine the initial risk focus areas (represented by the red and amber sections). It is worth noting that the green section shouldn’t be completely ignored but instead compiled into the overall Risk Register for future re-evaluation as the project progresses (as the originally assessed impact and probability can obviously change over the project lifecycle). 
 
The sections above can be generically described as follows:

• Red risk – These are classed as primary or critical risks requiring immediate attention. They may have a high or low impact or probability of occurrence but their overall severity warrants their treatment as a high priority. This may mean that strategies should be developed to reduce or eliminate the risks or mitigation in the form of contingency planning should be put in place and the risk monitored on a regular frequency.
• Amber risk – These risks are classed as significant. They may have a high or low impact or probability of occurrence but their overall severity is regarded as sufficiently serious to warrant appropriate consideration. As above strategies should be developed to reduce or eliminate the risks or mitigation in the form of contingency planning should be put in place and the risk monitored on a regular frequency.
• Green risk – These risks are less severe but may cause upset and inconvenience in the short term. These risks require minimal monitoring unless subsequent risk assessments show a substantial change in their probability of occurrence or impact.

These risks whose ‘severity’ (probability multiplied by impact) that have been scored of 5 or over (amber or red sections) should now be compiled and taken through to the next stage of RM where, in priority order, we evaluate them in more detail (it is worth noting that the threshold over which you take risks forward and leave them behind is really up to you/your project and how much time you have available to undertake this exercise).