Risk Management

Risk.management.is.decision.making.that.evolves.as.uncertainty.is.reduced..In.the. past,.many.organizations.have.managed.risks.by.prescribing.policy,.procedures,.regulations,.and.other.guidance,. the.rationale.being.that. if.you.follow.the.“rules,”. then. whatever.results.must.be.okay..That.is.not.risk.management..Risk.management,.done. well,.is.intentional.about.its.process,.addresses.uncertainty.in.decision.making,.and. focuses. on. outcomes..Risk.management. is.maturing.. There. are. now. thousands. of. people.who.identify.themselves.as.risk.managers.when.only.a.decade.or.two.ago.no. one.outside.of.the.insurance.industry.used.this.title. There.is.no.shortage.of.risk.management.models..As.with.every.other.aspect.of.risk.

analysis,.many.disciplines.and.organizations.have.spawned.their.own.particular.view. of.how.to.do.risk.management..Describing.the.risk.management.process.in.a.generic. fashion.is,.therefore,.a.daunting.challenge..It.is.impossible.to.define.risk.management. in.a.way.that.will.satisfy.many,.much.less.all.people..The.Society.for.Risk.Analysis. own.risk.glossary.shies.away.from.this.task..It.is.not.for.a.lack.of.definitions.so.much. as.it.is.the.proliferation.of.definitions.that.are.in.use.by.organizations.and.in.play.in. the.professional.and.other.literature..The.U.S..EPA.(2010).“Thesaurus.of.Terms.Used. in.Microbial.Risk.Assessment,”. for. example,. identifies.12.different.definitions. for. risk.management. It.goes.without.saying.that.most.organizations.are.quite.fond.of.the.nuances.or.par-

simony.of.their.own.definitions.and.are.not.inclined.to.surrender.it.for.another..No.one. seems.to.be.clamoring.for.a.universal.definition,.so.do.not.look.for.one.here..In.place. of.a.formal.definition,.the.risk.management.component.is.described.in.some.detail.. That.description.will.not.be.any.more.universally.applicable.than.a.definition.would. be,.but.we.must.begin.somewhere,.so.we.begin.by.identifying.those.risk.management. activities.that.are.common.to.many.definitions,.models,.and.practice. I.am.going.to.call.a.new.initiative.undertaken.by.an.organization.that.practices.risk.