The Risk Management Process

George L. Head, The Risk Management Process, Risk and Insurance Management Society, Inc., New York, NY, 1978. 

In essence, the earlier components of this overall assessment process are mainly deterministic in character (albeit with some probabilistic elements), whereas the later stages are mainly probabilistic. Not all elements of the process are quantifiable (with any degree of confidence), however and the socicii-political-cultural context of any downstream decision-making process may be intensely uncertain. Such uncertainties make the process of risk communication and debate a complex and sometimes unpredictable undertaking. It is essential therefore that those elements of the risk management process that cein be objectively einalysed and evaluated (either qualitatively or quantitatively, as appropriate) are so assessed. 

Not surprisingly, there is no agreed definition of the risk management process. The associated issues and interactions can be very complex, and much effort continues to go into defining how they can be characterised. It is however possible to sketch the overall process into a coherent architecture, based on the principles of ... 

Head, George L, and Stephen Horn II, Essentials of the Risk Management Process. Vols. I II, Insurance Institute of America, Malvern, PA, 1985. 

An important part of the risk management process involves informing consumers, industry and other stakeholders of the decisions made by regulatory authorities. However, this is a narrow view of risk communication that does not take into account the potential for dialogue between interested parties that can result in better decision-making. Understanding how consumers view the potential risks associated with food additives can help to avoid either under- or over-regulation. 

Advice a rational choice of bioassays and biomarkers that will provide added value to the risk management process when considering the disposal of dredged sediments. 

The California Air Resources Board has prepared risk assessments for a number of toxic airborne compounds and mixtures, designated as toxic air contaminants, TACs (Table 16.15). For example, risk assessments for individual compounds such as benzene, benzo[a]pyrene (see Chapter 10), formaldehyde, and vinyl chloride have been carried out, in addition to complex mixtures such as diesel exhaust (California Air Resources Board, 1997a) and environmental tobacco smoke (California Environmental Protection Agency, 1997). These risk assessment documents form the basis for controls imposed as part of the risk management process (e.g., see Seiber, 1996). 

Risk review should be conducted to evaluate the outputs of the risk management process and repeated as necessary, based on new quality data or if there are process or product changes. 

Establish the context. What are the goals of the risk management process What are potential vulnerabilities of the business Do employees or patients risk injuries How might the reputation of the pharmacy suffer if a patient was injured owing to a prescription error or if his or her health condition was inadvertently made public by an employee Could costly claims be avoided by not providing certain services or products ... 

Depending on the needs of the individual pharmacy, several different types of insurance policies may be required to provide adequate risk protection for the business. The geographic location, type of practice, and services offered will influence the types of insurance needed. The risk management process is a continuous process, and periodic evaluations are necessary to address new or emerging risk threats to the pharmacy. Emerging threats discussed later in this chapter exemplify how recent changes in health care practices (privacy issues) and technology create new and different risk threats to the pharmacy. 

The risk management process may involve the following steps risk classification, risk-benefit analysis of risk reduction options, implementation of risk reduction measures, and monitoring these measures (Van Leeuwen and Vermeire 2007). 

If regulatory-based risk acceptability exists, the risk management process becomes easier and the focus is then on regulatory compliance. However, for allergen cross-contamination, no regulatory or policy guidelines exist (see Section 15.4). 

Risk management is the decision-making process that follows the completion of a risk assessment. The risk assessment provides important information that supports decision-making and is integrated with other factors, including economic, feasibility, and cost-benefit analysis, in the risk management process. 

Assessment endpoints are the ultimate focus in risk characterization and link the measurement endpoints to the risk management process (e.g., policy goals). When an assessment endpoint can be directly measured, the measurement and assessment endpoints are the same. In most cases, however, the assessment endpoint cannot be directly measured, so a measurement endpoint (or a suite of measurement endpoints) is selected that can be related, either qualitatively or quantitatively, to the assessment endpoint. For... 

The results of the risk assessment serve as input to the risk management process, where they are used along with other inputs defined in EPA statutes, such as social and economic concerns, to evaluate risk management options. 

In addition, based on the discussions between the risk assessor and risk manager, follow-on activities to the risk assessment may be identified, including monitoring, studies to verify the predictions of the risk assessment, or the collection of additional data to reduce the uncertainties in the risk assessment. While a detailed discussion of the risk management process is beyond the scope of this report, consideration of the basic principles of ecological risk assessment described here will contribute to a final product that is both credible and germane to the needs of the risk manager. 

Everyone can participate knowledgeably in the risk management process. 

The risk management process presented in this paper corresponds to the third step of this program, i.e., how to manage remediation sites where an environmental release of a product or waste material has occurred and emergency abatement actions have been completed. 

Each step in the transportation risk management process (e.g., primary management systems, prioritization, risk analysis, risk reduction options, and process sustainability) reqnires valid and accnrate inpnt to ensure the results can be nsed as part of management s decision process. Therefore, risk activities should include other internal bnsiness nnits and transportation stakeholders in the process. Internal conununication benefits the risk management process through ... 

The chapter is organized along the risk management process and will discuss the topics of risk identification, risk characterization, benefit-risk balance, and risk minimization. Dependence on other regulatory documents with relevance to safety will be pointed out throughout all sections. 

Defensiveness and blame avoidance may have been elements in this strategy, but the justifications were obvious. Partly it has been considered a matter of simple necessity. As one of tbe agency veterans explained, with reference to the pioneer days, they received piles of paper from the industry and were severely under-resourced in terms of making expert-based reviews of all the technical documentation (see Kringen 2009). But there were also more positive justifications. It would not only empower the industry, but also engage them actively in the risk management processes and make them accountable for the solutions adopted. 

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