Risk avoidance is achieved by deciding not to undertake a risk by either not taking part in a certain risky activity or by abandoning an asset to remove the risk.

It simply means to conduct activity where the risk is not met.

For example consider the risk of staff tripping down a staircase at the workplace. If we remove the staircase from the equation by having all ground floor premises, then the risk has been completely avoided. But the inconvenience of finding all ground floor premises to rent will not be worthwhile to some organisations.

But avoiding all risks is not a viable strategy. If we do not take risks, we cannot gain the benefits that can arise. This is one major factor to consider when contemplating avoiding risk. In this scenario it would be beneficial to consider if the opportunities outweigh the risk and then decide if the risk is worth avoiding, otherwise a prime opportunity could be missed.

A lot of our decisions regarding whether to avoid the risk or not will depend on our risk appetite.

As mentioned in the factors to consider in Risk Treatment, avoiding the risk may not be possible in cases where we are forced to comply with certain laws and policies.