37 Actual human rights impact is a matter primarily for remediation, although it is also an important indicator of potential impact. It is worth highlighting again that an enterprise’s human rights risks are the risks that its operations pose to human rights. This is separate from any risks that involvement in human rights impact may pose to the enterprise, although the two are increasingly related. An enterprise’s operations may pose risks to the human rights of various groups. Direct employees are always a relevant group in this regard. But potentially affected stakeholders may also be communities around the enterprise’s facilities, workers of other enterprises in its value chain (insofar as they can be affected by its own actions or decisions), users of its products or services, others involved in product development (such as in product trials) and so forth. It is important for enterprises to look beyond the most obvious groups and not assume, for instance, that the challenges lie in addressing impact on external stakeholders while forgetting direct employees; or assume that those affected are employees alone, ignoring other affected stakeholders beyond the walls of the enterprise. Individuals from population groups that are more vulnerable to human rights impact require particular attention. (See question 4 for more on vulnerable populations and groups.) Q 36. When should impact be assessed? Human rights due diligence requires ongoing processes to assess human rights impact in order for an enterprise to maintain a true picture of its human rights risks over time, taking into account changing circumstances. This cannot be accomplished through one single human rights impact assessment, unless the enterprise’s operations and operating context remain largely unchanged. The commentary to Guiding Principle 18 makes clear that repeat assessments are likely to be necessary at various critical moments: prior to a new activity or relationship; prior to major decisions or changes in the operation (e.g., market entry, product launch, policy change or wider changes to the business); in response to or anticipation of changes in the operating environment (e.g., rising social tensions); and periodically throughout the life of an activity or relationship. The most effective is to begin to assess impact as early as possible in the life of a particular activity or relationship. The terms of contracts at the start of new investments or business relationships can often dictate how easy or difficult it will be to ensure respect for human rights for their duration. An early exercise