RMS Ferma
RMS Ferma
RMS Ferma
E U RO P E A N R I S K
M A NAG E M E N T
A S S O C I AT I O N S
A RISK MANAGEMENT
STANDARD
A RISK MANAGEMENT STANDARD
Introduction
The Risk Management Standard is the result of There are many ways of achieving the
work by a team drawn from the major risk objectives of risk management and it would be
management organisations in the UK - The impossible to try to set them all out in a single
Institute of Risk Management (IRM),The document. Therefore it was never intended to
Association of Insurance and Risk Managers produce a prescriptive standard which would
(AIRMIC) and ALARM The National Forum for have led to a box ticking approach nor to
Risk Management in the Public Sector. establish a certifiable process. By meeting the
various component parts of this standard,
In addition, the team sought the views and albeit in different ways, organisations will be in
opinions of a wide range of other professional a position to report that they are in
bodies with interests in risk management, compliance. The standard represents best
during an extensive period of consultation. practice against which organisations can
measure themselves.
Risk management is a rapidly developing
discipline and there are many and varied views The standard has wherever possible used the
and descriptions of what risk management terminology for risk set out by the International
involves, how it should be conducted and what Organization for Standardization (ISO) in its
it is for. Some form of standard is needed to recent document ISO/IEC Guide 73 Risk
ensure that there is an agreed: Management - Vocabulary - Guidelines for use
in standards.
• terminology related to the words used
• process by which risk management can be
In view of the rapid developments in this area
carried out
the authors would appreciate feedback from
• organisation structure for risk management
organisations as they put the standard into use
• objective for risk management
(addresses to be found on the back cover of
this Guide). It is intended that regular
Importantly, the standard recognises that risk
modifications will be made to the standard in
has both an upside and a downside.
the light of best practice.
Risk management is not just something for
corporations or public organisations, but for
any activity whether short or long term. The
benefits and opportunities should be viewed
not just in the context of the activity itself but
in relation to the many and varied stakeholders
who can be affected.
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Risk Management is increasingly recognised as It must be integrated into the culture of the
being concerned with both positive and organisation with an effective policy and a
negative aspects of risk. Therefore this programme led by the most senior
standard considers risk from both perspectives. management. It must translate the strategy
into tactical and operational objectives,
In the safety field, it is generally recognised assigning responsibility throughout the
that consequences are only negative and organisation with each manager and employee
therefore the management of safety risk is responsible for the management of risk as part
focused on prevention and mitigation of harm. of their job description. It supports
accountability, performance measurement and
reward, thus promoting operational efficiency
2. Risk Management at all levels.
Risk management is a central part of any 2.1 External and Internal Factors
organisation’s strategic management. It is the The risks facing an organisation and its
process whereby organisations methodically operations can result from factors both
address the risks attaching to their activities external and internal to the organisation.
with the goal of achieving sustained benefit
within each activity and across the portfolio of The diagram overleaf summarises examples of
all activities. key risks in these areas and shows that some
specific risks can have both external and
The focus of good risk management is the internal drivers and therefore overlap the two
identification and treatment of these risks. areas. They can be categorised further into
Its objective is to add maximum sustainable types of risk such as strategic, financial,
value to all the activities of the organisation. It operational, hazard, etc.
marshals the understanding of the potential
upside and downside of all those factors which
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RNALLY DRIVEN
EXTE
M & A INTEGRATION
INTERNALLY DRIVEN
ACCOUNTING CONTROLS
INFORMATION SYSTEMS
REGULATIONS CONTRACTS
CULTURE NATURAL EVENTS
BOARD COMPOSITION SUPPLIERS
ENVIRONMENT
EXTE
R N ALLY D RIVEN
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Risk identification should be approached in a Whilst risk identification can be carried out by
methodical way to ensure that all significant outside consultants, an in-house approach with
activities within the organisation have been well communicated, consistent and co-
identified and all the risks flowing from these ordinated processes and tools (see Appendix)
activities defined. is likely to be more effective. In-house
All associated volatility related to these ‘ownership’ of the risk management process is
activities should be identified and categorised. essential.
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1. Name of Risk
2. Scope of Risk Qualitative description of the events, their size, type, number and
dependencies
7. Risk Treatment & Control Primary means by which the risk is currently managed
Mechanisms Levels of confidence in existing control
Identification of protocols for monitoring and review
9. Strategy and Policy Identification of function responsible for developing strategy and
Developments policy
4.3 Risk Estimation Monitoring Examples are given in the tables overleaf.
Risk estimation can be quantitative, semi- Different organisations will find that different
quantitative or qualitative in terms of the measures of consequence and probability will
probability of occurrence and the possible suit their needs best.
consequence.
For example many organisations find that
For example, consequences both in terms of assessing consequence and probability as
threats (downside risks) and opportunities high, medium or low is quite adequate for their
(upside risks) may be high, medium or low (see needs and can be presented as a 3 x 3 matrix.
table 4.3.1). Probability may be high, medium
or low but requires different definitions in Other organisations find that assessing
respect of threats and opportunities (see consequence and probability using a 5 x 5
tables 4.3.2 and 4.3.3). matrix gives them a better evaluation.
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High (Probable) Likely to occur each year or more Potential of it occurring several times
than 25% chance of occurrence. within the time period (for example -
ten years).
Has occurred recently.
Medium (Possible) Likely to occur in a ten year time Could occur more than once within
period or less than 25% chance of the time period (for example - ten
occurrence. years).
Could be difficult to control due to
some external influences.
Is there a history of occurrence?
Low (Remote) Not likely to occur in a ten year Has not occurred.
period or less than 2% chance of Unlikely to occur.
occurrence.
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High (Probable) Favourable outcome is likely to be Clear opportunity which can be relied
achieved in one year or better than on with reasonable certainty, to be
75% chance of occurrence. achieved in the short term based on
current management processes.
Low (Remote) Some chance of favourable outcome Possible opportunity which has yet to
in the medium term or less than be fully investigated by management.
25% chance of occurrence. Opportunity for which the likelihood
of success is low on the basis of
management resources currently
being applied.
4.4 Risk Analysis methods and techniques This process allows the risk to be mapped to
A range of techniques can be used to analyse the business area affected, describes the
risks. These can be specific to upside or primary control procedures in place and
downside risk or be capable of dealing with indicates areas where the level of risk control
both. (See Appendix). investment might be increased, decreased or
reapportioned.
4.5 Risk Profile
The result of the risk analysis process can be Accountability helps to ensure that ‘ownership’
used to produce a risk profile which gives a of the risk is recognised and the appropriate
significance rating to each risk and provides a management resource allocated.
tool for prioritising risk treatment efforts. This
ranks each identified risk so as to give a view
of the relative importance.
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Good corporate governance requires that Furthermore, it should refer to any legal
companies adopt a methodical approach to requirements for policy statements eg. for
risk management which : Health and Safety.
• protects the interests of their stakeholders
Attaching to the risk management process is an
• ensures that the Board of Directors integrated set of tools and techniques for use
discharges its duties to direct strategy, in the various stages of the business process.
build value and monitor performance of the
organisation To work effectively, the risk management
• ensures that management controls are in process requires :
place and are performing adequately • commitment from the chief executive and
executive management of the organisation
The arrangements for the formal reporting of
• assignment of responsibilities within the
risk management should be clearly stated and
organisation
be available to the stakeholders.
• allocation of appropriate resources for
The formal reporting should address : training and the development of an
enhanced risk awareness by all
• the control methods - particularly
stakeholders.
management responsibilities for risk
management
8.2 Role of the Board
• the processes used to identify risks and The Board has responsibility for determining
how they are addressed by the risk the strategic direction of the organisation and
management systems for creating the environment and the structures
• the primary control systems in place to for risk management to operate effectively.
manage significant risks
This may be through an executive group, a non-
• the monitoring and review system in place
executive committee, an audit committee or
such other function that suits the
Any significant deficiencies uncovered by the
organisation’s way of operating and is capable
system, or in the system itself, should be
of acting as a ‘sponsor’ for risk management.
reported together with the steps taken to deal
with them.
The Board should, as a minimum, consider, in
evaluating its system of internal control :
• the nature and extent of downside risks
8. The Structure and acceptable for the company to bear within
Administration of Risk its particular business
Management. • the likelihood of such risks becoming a
reality
8.1 Risk Management Policy • how unacceptable risks should be managed
An organisation’s risk management policy
should set out its approach to and appetite for • the company’s ability to minimise the
risk and its approach to risk management. The probability and impact on the business
policy should also set out responsibilities for
risk management throughout the organisation.
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• the costs and benefits of the risk and • establishing internal risk policy and
control activity undertaken structures for business units
• the effectiveness of the risk management • designing and reviewing processes for risk
process management
• the risk implications of board decisions • co-ordinating the various functional
activities which advise on risk management
8.3 Role of the Business Units issues within the organisation
This includes the following : • developing risk response processes,
• the business units have primary including contingency and business
responsibility for managing risk on a day- continuity programmes
to- day basis • preparing reports on risk for the board and
• business unit management is responsible the stakeholders
for promoting risk awareness within their
operations; they should introduce risk 8.5 Role of Internal Audit
management objectives into their business The role of Internal Audit is likely to differ from
• risk management should be a regular one organisation to another.
management-meeting item to allow
consideration of exposures and to In practice, Internal Audit’s role may include
reprioritise work in the light of effective risk some or all of the following :
analysis • focusing the internal audit work on the
• business unit management should ensure significant risks, as identified by
that risk management is incorporated at the management, and auditing the risk
conceptual stage of projects as well as management processes across an
throughout a project organisation
• providing assurance on the management of
8.4 Role of the Risk Management risk
Function • providing active support and involvement
Depending on the size of the organisation the in the risk management process
risk management function may range from a
single risk champion, a part time risk manager, • facilitating risk identification/assessment
to a full scale risk management department. and educating line staff in risk
management and internal control
The role of the Risk Management function • co-ordinating risk reporting to the board,
should include the following : audit committee, etc
• setting policy and strategy for risk
management In determining the most appropriate role for a
particular organisation, Internal Audit should
• primary champion of risk management at ensure that the professional requirements for
strategic and operational level independence and objectivity are not breached.
• building a risk aware culture within the
organisation including appropriate
education
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8.6 Resources and Implementation place. Regular audits of policy and standards
The resources required to implement the compliance should be carried out and
organisation’s risk management policy should standards performance reviewed to identify
be clearly established at each level of opportunities for improvement. It should be
management and within each business unit. remembered that organisations are dynamic
and operate in dynamic environments. Changes
In addition to other operational functions they in the organisation and the environment in
may have, those involved in risk management which it operates must be identified and
should have their roles in co-ordinating risk appropriate modifications made to systems.
management policy/strategy clearly defined.
The same clear definition is also required for The monitoring process should provide
those involved in the audit and review of assurance that there are appropriate controls
internal controls and facilitating the risk in place for the organisation’s activities and
management process. that the procedures are understood and
followed. Changes in the organisation and the
Risk management should be embedded within environment in which it operates must be
the organisation through the strategy and identified and appropriate changes made to
budget processes. It should be highlighted in systems.
induction and all other training and
development as well as within operational Any monitoring and review process should
processes e.g. product/service development also determine whether :
projects. • the measures adopted resulted in what was
intended
• the procedures adopted and information
9. Monitoring and Review of the gathered for undertaking the assessment
Risk Management Process. were appropriate
Effective risk management requires a reporting • improved knowledge would have helped to
and review structure to ensure that risks are reach better decisions and identify what
effectively identified and assessed and that lessons could be learned for future
appropriate controls and responses are in assessments and management of risks
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APPENDIX
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FOR LOCAL INFORMATION, PLEASE CONTACT THE OFFICE OF THE NATIONAL ASSOCIATION
ALARM - The National Forum for Risk Management in the Public Sector
Queens Drive, Exmouth - Devon, EX8 2AY
Tel: 01395 223399 - Fax: 01395 223304 - Email admin@alarm.uk.com - www.alarm-uk.com