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Organizations face a wide range of risks each day that can affect their ability to achieve certain business objectives and stay in business. Risk assessment is an important and sophisticated process used to assess an organization's risks so that it can mitigate and reduce risks to an acceptable level.
Over the past 30 years as risk control consultants, the authors have performed, facilitated, participated in and observed thousands of risk assessments for almost all industry types and sizes. Based on those experiences, they have concluded that many organizations fail to perform effective risk assessments.
This article describes the authors' top 10 reasons organizations fail to perform good risk assessments and provides advice on avoiding these failures.
Most of these observations can be tied directly to key components found in two consensus standards:
* ANSI/AS SE Z590.3-2011, Prevention Through Design, Guidelines for Addressing Occupational Hazards and Risks in Design and Redesign Processes;
* ANSI/ASSE Z690.3-2011, Risk Assessment Techniques.
This article reviews y steps in perform - ke ing successful risk assessments, preparing for common challenges, and expanding overall knowledge and skill in applying risk assessment techniques.
Effective SH&E Management Systems
The ultimate goal of an occupational SH&E management system is to continually improve performance, and to minimize risk and associated costs of occupational incidents as indicated by ANSI/ASSE/ AHA Z10-2012, Occupational Health and Safety Management Systems, and similar management system standards and guidelines. For such a system to reach this goal, risks must be continually identified, analyzed and evaluated to understand their potential for occurring and their magnitude of loss, as well as existing controls and needed improvements. This key element is known as risk assessment.
Risk Assessment & Recent Standards
Risk assessments are common in Europe, Australia, New Zealand, Canada and other parts of the world. In the U.K., risk assessments have been legally required since 1999 by the Health and Safety Executive. However, few risk assessments are mandated in the U.S., with the exception of OSHA 29 CFR 1910.119, Process Safety Management of Highly Hazardous Chemicals, and EPA 40 CFR Part 68, Risk Management Plan.
In 2011, two ANSI standards addressing risk assessment were released. ANSI/ASSE Z590.3, Prevention Through Design, Guidelines for Addressing Occupational Hazards and Risks in Design and Redesign Processes, represents a...