Which risk handling technique is considered mutually exclusive to others?

The correct answer is avoidance, as it represents a unique approach to handling risk that fundamentally differs from the other techniques. When an organization opts for avoidance, it chooses to eliminate any exposure to a particular risk entirely, which can mean discontinuing a particular project, activity, or investment that poses a potential hazard. This approach contrasts with the others, which either accept or manage the risk in some capacity.

For example, control involves implementing measures to reduce the likelihood or impact of the risk, transfer shifts the risk to another party (such as through insurance), and retention means accepting the risk with the understanding that it might materialize. None of these methods eliminate the risk altogether, as avoidance does. Thus, avoidance stands out as mutually exclusive, as it does not engage with the risk in the same way that the other techniques do.