Risk Evaluation and Mitigation Strategy

As these parameters are monitored and changes in risk identified, critical issues can be escalated for more detailed review. Once several risk reduction strategies are identified, the same types of risk evaluation criteria (e.g., risk index, risk matrix, or other quantitative measures) described earlier in this book can be used to assess the relative benefits of each proposed risk mitigation option. Risk reduction can thus be defined as the process of evaluating and identifying options available to reduce risk, that achieve the desired level of risk reduction, and can be justified on a cost-benefit basis. 

This step evaluates the available options for managing risks identified in Step 3 and recommends a course of action. Options include engineering controls, protective equipment, risk communication, and product or process modification(s). This step is essentially a mitigation strategy, described in Section 5.2.2 of this chapter. 

In order to evaluate and prioritize the mitigation actions, the project team must specify a set of criteria. Different decision-makers may have different objectives. In this paper, the criteria for risk mitigation strategy selection are determined based on the review of literature and semi-structured interviews undertaken with key managers. The criteria considered can be divided into four categories as follows. 

Once the risks of the transfer are understood, a risk mitigation strategy can be developed. For example, on-site visits are very beneficial to developing relationships required for a successful transfer and to assess the laboratory conditions firsthand. Method training is usually essential and can occur at either the expert laboratory or the receiving site. Lastly, method evaluation or validation by the expert laboratory on the instrument vendor platforms intended for use by the recipient laboratory can greatly reduce the method transfer risk. 

Nonetheless such a situation is not typical of India alone—many industrialized western European countries have encountered similar challenges in the past and evolved systematic methods for assessing risk from hazardous industries which then led to the adoption of suitable risk reduction strategies (Pasman and Reniers, 2013). In order to assess cumulative risk arising from a cluster of hazardous industrial establishments and to evaluate options for area level risk mitigation measures, few studies were carried out in countries like Netherlands, UK and Italy during the 1970 s. Some examples of these studies include those undertaken in Rijnmond, the Netherlands, Canvey Island in the UK and the Ravenna area in Italy etc. But then, it is only after the accidents in Bhopal... 

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