Risk Management

The time has come that we as Occupational Health and Safety Practitioners realize that we need to treat our Health and Safety system as a Business Management system as times has changed and we more and more look at the potential threats and opportunities of our organisations, hence we still need to focus on maintaining a safe working environment.

What is Risk Management in a business perspective?

In business, Risk Management is defined as the process of identifying, monitoring and managing potential risks in order to mitigate the negative impact they may have on an organization. Examples of potential risks include security breaches, data loss, cyber-attacks, system failures and natural disasters. An effective risk management process will help identify which risks poses the biggest threats to an organization and provide guidelines for controlling those risks.

The 3 Steps of Risk Management

By raising a Health and Safety Culture awareness in your company, you can eliminate the risk taking behaviours of the people in your workplace. The people in your workplace will ultimately determine, at the end of the day, a successful Health and Safety Culture.

By implementing the following, you can ultimately achieve a compliant workplace:

Below each of the three components of risk management is explained and what you can do to simplify the processes.

1. Risk Assessment & Analysis
   The first step of the risk management process is called the risk assessment and analysis stage. A risk assessment evaluates an organization’s exposure to uncertain events that could impact its day-to-day operations and estimates the damage those events could have on an organization’s revenue and reputation.Effectively assessing and analysing an organization’s risks helps protect assets, improve decision making and optimize operational efficiency across the board to save money, time and resources.
2. Risk Evaluation
   After the risk analysis has been completed, a risk evaluationshould take place. A risk evaluation compares estimated risks against risk criteria that the organization has already established. Risk criteria can include associated costs and benefits, socio-economic factors, legal requirements and system malfunctions.
3. Risk Treatment & Response
   The last step in the risk management process is risk treatment and response. Risk treatment is the implementation of policies and procedures that will help avoid or mitigate risks. Risk treatment also extends to risk transfer and risk financing.