For starters impact is a noun and affect is a verb. It's probably textbook risk analysis lingo, an impact is measurable but an affect is not. Usually an impac

For starters impact is a noun and affect is a verb. It's probably textbook risk analysis lingo, an impact is measurable but an affect is not. Usually an impact scale is created to define what impact level 5 would involve versus impact 1. It's still arbitrary but more configurable than affect. Just my two cents, no guarantee.