Risk profiling Croner-i is a comprehensive knowledge and resource platform that enables professionals to stay ahead of change in their industry, with legislation, trends and best practice. Call to learn more. Last reviewed 16 November 2020 Justin Tyas discusses the concept of risk profiling in relation to health and safety management.
The concept of risk profiling is not a new one. Its application is found in a wide range of disciplines from business risk management, such as financial and insurance, to medicine (including genetics) and science. Risk profiling has even been used to profile passengers in an attempt to use risk based approaches to improve airport security.
According to the PD ISO Guide 73:2009 Risk Management. Vocabulary : “A risk profile is a description of a set of risks The set of risks can contain those that relate to the whole organisation, part of the organisation, or as otherwise defined.” Therefore, a risk profile can include the risks that the entire organisation must manage or only those that a particular function or part of the organisation must address.
HGS65 Managing for Health and Safety by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) establishes the concept of risk profiling in health and safety management. The guidance explains the Plan, Do, Check, Act model (Deming Cycle) for a health and safety management system. According to the guidance, this approach achieves a balance between systems and management, treating health and safety as an integral part of good management, rather than a stand-alone safety management system.
This is important because it acknowledges that health and safety risks are part of the overall risk profile of an organisation, and there is tacit acknowledgment of the interconnectedness of risks. Profiling an organisation’s health and safety risks comes within the “Doing” part of the cycle.
Many organisations are looking to implement and certify management system British or international standards. They all now incorporate Annex XL which describes a framework for a generic management system. It aims to improve consistency and alignment of standards by providing a High Level Structure (HLS) and common text for all management system standards.
See the topic, Risk profiling is a systematic and structured approach to risk management which, if done correctly, should provide organisations with a detailed picture of all the risk elements of its operations, the effectiveness of the controls in place to mitigate the risks, as well as a framework for assurance and monitoring its higher risk priorities.
- Organisations’ “appetite” for risk will differ considerably and this may be partly a function of the size and complexity of the organisation, driven by the operations and processes it conducts, as well as the culture of the organisation.
- Some organisations may be willing to accept or retain risk, others may seek to implement risk management strategies to reduce or control, transfer or avoid risk.
Every organisation will have its own risk profile: this is the starting point for determining the health and safety issues facing the organisation. In some organisations, the risk profile will consist of tangible and immediate safety hazards, while in others the risks may be longer term health-related risks, and it may be a long time before illness becomes apparent.
a summary of the key strategic and operational health and safety risks for an organisation quantification of these risks, in terms of likelihood and potential impact identification of the current controls, their effectiveness and improvement potential identification of any controls not yet in place and any (new) emerging risks with plans on how to deal with them a framework for monitoring and assurance, including a prioritised action plan with recommendations for improvements to address weaknesses with further controls and/or mitigation.
The range of risks normally includes quality (of product or services), environmental, injury, ill health and assets damage. Pure health and safety risks generally range from low hazard high frequency, eg slips on floors, to high hazard low frequency events, such as an oil refinery explosion, with the latter being at the top of the risk profile priority.
the right risks have been identified and prioritised for action minor risks will not be given too much priority the level of risk will be reduced to that which is acceptable paperwork and bureaucracy will be kept to the minimum necessary performance will be reviewed and lessons learned.
The HSE provides guidance in HSG65 on what it considers to be the key actions in effective risk profiling, which make explicit the actions required of leaders (ownerships and responsibility) and managers (operational and process) to identify and quantify the strategic and operational risk of the organisation.
Risk profiling involves gathering information about operations and process, using existing risk assessments, and risk assessment methodology to evaluate risks, and developing a suitable means for monitoring and providing assurance. Some organisations use risk registers to enable them to document and monitor key risks.
Those who undertake risk assessments need to be competent to do so. While some organisations may choose to use external expertise to help them develop their risk profile, anyone doing so must have a broad knowledge of the entire organisation and have risk management expertise.
- Risk information generated from interviews, eg with directors, senior managers, operational managers and staff, and from workshops needs to be confirmed, and ranked, and together with other data (eg risk assessments) should form the basis of an overall risk profile.
- According to James Stapleton in his 2011 report, Lessons Learned from the London 2012 Games Construction Project: Health and Safety Risk Profiling, health and safety risk profiling contributed to the positive safety culture of the London 2012 programme, and promoted careful planning and safe delivery during the construction project.
A health and safety profile for construction works planned over three months was developed, using the following plan.
Gathering information
Project teams on planned work over a three-month construction period were spoken to about their work. The data captured was analysed and for each project a summary of 12-15 key tasks were identified as taking place over the next 90 days. The health and safety hazards anticipated from these planned tasks were then assessed.
Risk assessment of future works
A risk assessment was undertaken for each task. Risk assessments highlighted key hazards, such as the transporting of mechanical and engineering materials to high level working platforms. A key monitoring check was put in place to ensure that, in the example above, a safe system was in place to transport the materials mechanically to avoid manual handling. Relevant parties were consulted throughout the risk assessment process.
Compliance review schedule
A weekly compliance review schedule was developed. A list of example checks to follow was produced and documented on the compliance review schedule. Monitoring was undertaken and the schedule was updated when actions were completed and closed off, or altered to reflect changes to construction schedules.
Mr Stapleton notes that there were a number of benefits to health and safety risk profiling including providing a focus to the assurance team, anticipating and planning to minimise risk, as well as the identification of key risk themes. Risk profiling can be a time consuming and resource-intensive process and, as with any technique, the outputs will only be as good as the information gathered, the competence of those involved, the methodology used to validate the process, and the commitment of those responsible for leading organisations.
The key benefits of health and safety risk profiling are that it can be used to focus on the real risks facing an organisation, and as such can be outcome driven, helping to increase ownership by the responsible persons. Health and safety professionals can play an important role in the risk profiling process, particularly if they have a good a good working knowledge of their organisation, combined with suitable risk management expertise.
Finally, it should be noted that health and safety risk profiling does not stand alone from the bigger risk profile of an organisation; risks are often interconnected and cannot be considered in isolation. Risk profiles need to be actively monitored, as internal as well as external changes may affect the dynamic profile.
Contents
- 1 What is risk profiling?
- 2 What is the risk profile in health and safety?
- 3 What are the 4 risk profiles?
- 4 What are the three types of risk profiles?
- 5 What is the difference between risk profiling and risk assessment?
- 6 How is risk profile measured?
- 7 Why should risk profiling be done?
- 8 What is a risk profile questionnaire?
What is risk profiling?
What is a Risk Profile? – A risk profile is the quantification of an investor’s overall risk tolerance. The risk profile is different for every individual investor. It depends on tolerance capacity to risk or market volatility. Several factors contribute to such tolerance levels, including disposable income, age, etc. Therefore, risk profiling helps an investor and financial advisor to create a suitable investment portfolio with a mix of securities correlating to his/her risk appetite. For instance, an investor who prefers to maintain the value of their portfolio than aiming for high or even moderate returns will be considered conservative. On the other hand, an individual prepared to withstand market volatility to earn exponential returns is a classic instance of an aggressive risk profile.
- Effective leaders and line managers know the risks their organisations face, rank them in order of importance and take action to control them.
- The risk profile of an organisation informs all aspects of the approach to leading and managing its health and safety risks.
- Every organisation will have its own risk profile.
- Degrading plant integrity could also lead to later emerging risks.
- Health and safety risks also range from things that happen very infrequently but with catastrophic effects (high-hazard, low-frequency events, such as an oil refinery explosion) to things that happen much more frequently but with lesser consequences (low-hazard, high-frequency events).
- From the least risky Core assets with stable cash flows to the riskier but potentially more lucrative Opportunistic ventures, the risk profiles provide a framework to assess CRE opportunities.
- It’s crucial to conduct thorough analysis, consider various factors, and determine the appropriate risk-reward balance for each investment.
- Financial advisors also utilise the asset-liability balance of an investor as a towering factor of risk profile determination.
- For instance, an individual who has several assets at his/her disposal in comparison with very few liabilities will likely be a risk-seeker.
- An individual with sufficient retirement capital, emergency funds, and no loans will be in that category.
- Since such investors’ financial standing would not suffer greatly due to short-term market volatilities, they can afford to look at the bigger picture of exponential returns at that cost.
- However, an individual whose asset value is not all that substantial, but his/her liabilities count is significant will most likely be risk-averse.
- This category of investors possess limited wiggle room in their budget for accommodating loss from short-term volatilities and will be definitely more inclined to look for a safe investment haven.
- HGS65 Managing for Health and Safety by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) establishes the concept of risk profiling in health and safety management.
- The guidance explains the Plan, Do, Check, Act model (Deming Cycle) for a health and safety management system.
- According to the guidance, this approach achieves a balance between systems and management, treating health and safety as an integral part of good management, rather than a stand-alone safety management system.
- Risk profiling involves gathering information about operations and process, using existing risk assessments, and risk assessment methodology to evaluate risks, and developing a suitable means for monitoring and providing assurance.
- Some organisations use risk registers to enable them to document and monitor key risks.
What is the risk profile in health and safety?
What is Risk Profiling? – Risk profiling examines the nature and levels of threats faced by an organisation. It examines the likelihood of adverse effects occurring, the level of disruption and costs associated with each type of risk. The effectiveness of the current control measures is also considered.
This is the starting point for determining the greatest health and safety issues for the organisation. Some organisations will face tangible and immediate safety issues, such as machine guarding. Other organisations, however, may experience health-related risks that may take a long time before the illness becomes apparent.
Clearly, the high-hazard, low-frequency example could destroy the business and would be high-priority in a risk profile.
What are the 4 risk profiles?
Understanding CRE Risk Profiles – Understanding these profiles, which include Core, Core Plus, Value Add, and Opportunistic, is essential for both investors and industry professionals. Each profile represents a different level of risk and potential reward, allowing investors to gauge their comfort level and make informed decisions.
By understanding and utilizing the CRE risk profiles, investors can navigate the dynamic real estate market with more confidence and strategic foresight.
What are the three types of risk profiles?
What are the different types of risk profiles investors can be classified into? Just the way we have different categories of depending on their riskiness, we also group investors into similar categories based on their risk profile. Investors can be classified into aggressive, moderate and conservative risk profiles based on two factors.
The risk profile of an investor is dependent on his/her ability to take risk (risk capacity) and willingness to assume risk (risk aversion). If an investor has both low willingness and ability to take risk, we call him/her conservative investor who should invest in low risk investment products like, bank FDs.
If an investor has high ability and willingness to take risk, such investor is best advised to invest in aggressive risk category products like, direct equity. However, if an investor has high willingness to take risk but low ability to assume risk or vice-versa, such investor is best advised to invest in moderate risk investment products.
These investors are referred to as moderate investors who would like to take moderate risk that doesn’t jeopardize their life. They prefer to invest in balanced mutual funds. Investments are considered suitable for an investor if the investments’ risk fall within the limit of the investor’s risk capacity and risk aversion.
: What are the different types of risk profiles investors can be classified into?
What is a risk profile example?
Risk Profile Evaluation – Investors often vet their financial standing, i.e. balance between, to evaluate the level of risk they can take.
One should note in this context that a healthy share of assets and fewer liabilities does not always prompt an individual to undertake a risky investment approach. It strictly depends on an individual’s own psychology of risk in that case. Apart from the asset-liability balance, a few other factors that have a bearing on a person’s risk profile are:
Factors | Descriptions |
Age | Since young-aged investors are more likely to be welcoming of risk than individuals nearing their retirement age. |
Lifestyle | Unmarried investors in the early stages of their career can afford to take risks compared to a middle-aged person with dependents. |
Financial goals | Another critical determinant of risk profile is the financial goal of an investor. For example, if an investor aims to accumulate substantial capital for retirement, then he/she would go for a predominantly equity-based portfolio. |
What is the difference between risk profiling and risk assessment?
Risk profiling Croner-i is a comprehensive knowledge and resource platform that enables professionals to stay ahead of change in their industry, with legislation, trends and best practice. Call to learn more. Last reviewed 16 November 2020 Justin Tyas discusses the concept of risk profiling in relation to health and safety management.
The concept of risk profiling is not a new one. Its application is found in a wide range of disciplines from business risk management, such as financial and insurance, to medicine (including genetics) and science. Risk profiling has even been used to profile passengers in an attempt to use risk based approaches to improve airport security.
According to the PD ISO Guide 73:2009 Risk Management. Vocabulary : “A risk profile is a description of a set of risks The set of risks can contain those that relate to the whole organisation, part of the organisation, or as otherwise defined.” Therefore, a risk profile can include the risks that the entire organisation must manage or only those that a particular function or part of the organisation must address.
This is important because it acknowledges that health and safety risks are part of the overall risk profile of an organisation, and there is tacit acknowledgment of the interconnectedness of risks. Profiling an organisation’s health and safety risks comes within the “Doing” part of the cycle.
Many organisations are looking to implement and certify management system British or international standards. They all now incorporate Annex XL which describes a framework for a generic management system. It aims to improve consistency and alignment of standards by providing a High Level Structure (HLS) and common text for all management system standards.
See the topic, Risk profiling is a systematic and structured approach to risk management which, if done correctly, should provide organisations with a detailed picture of all the risk elements of its operations, the effectiveness of the controls in place to mitigate the risks, as well as a framework for assurance and monitoring its higher risk priorities.
Organisations’ “appetite” for risk will differ considerably and this may be partly a function of the size and complexity of the organisation, driven by the operations and processes it conducts, as well as the culture of the organisation. Some organisations may be willing to accept or retain risk, others may seek to implement risk management strategies to reduce or control, transfer or avoid risk.
Every organisation will have its own risk profile: this is the starting point for determining the health and safety issues facing the organisation. In some organisations, the risk profile will consist of tangible and immediate safety hazards, while in others the risks may be longer term health-related risks, and it may be a long time before illness becomes apparent.
a summary of the key strategic and operational health and safety risks for an organisation quantification of these risks, in terms of likelihood and potential impact identification of the current controls, their effectiveness and improvement potential identification of any controls not yet in place and any (new) emerging risks with plans on how to deal with them a framework for monitoring and assurance, including a prioritised action plan with recommendations for improvements to address weaknesses with further controls and/or mitigation.
The range of risks normally includes quality (of product or services), environmental, injury, ill health and assets damage. Pure health and safety risks generally range from low hazard high frequency, eg slips on floors, to high hazard low frequency events, such as an oil refinery explosion, with the latter being at the top of the risk profile priority.
the right risks have been identified and prioritised for action minor risks will not be given too much priority the level of risk will be reduced to that which is acceptable paperwork and bureaucracy will be kept to the minimum necessary performance will be reviewed and lessons learned.
The HSE provides guidance in HSG65 on what it considers to be the key actions in effective risk profiling, which make explicit the actions required of leaders (ownerships and responsibility) and managers (operational and process) to identify and quantify the strategic and operational risk of the organisation.
Those who undertake risk assessments need to be competent to do so. While some organisations may choose to use external expertise to help them develop their risk profile, anyone doing so must have a broad knowledge of the entire organisation and have risk management expertise.
Risk information generated from interviews, eg with directors, senior managers, operational managers and staff, and from workshops needs to be confirmed, and ranked, and together with other data (eg risk assessments) should form the basis of an overall risk profile. According to James Stapleton in his 2011 report, Lessons Learned from the London 2012 Games Construction Project: Health and Safety Risk Profiling, health and safety risk profiling contributed to the positive safety culture of the London 2012 programme, and promoted careful planning and safe delivery during the construction project.
A health and safety profile for construction works planned over three months was developed, using the following plan.
Gathering information
Project teams on planned work over a three-month construction period were spoken to about their work. The data captured was analysed and for each project a summary of 12-15 key tasks were identified as taking place over the next 90 days. The health and safety hazards anticipated from these planned tasks were then assessed.
Risk assessment of future works
A risk assessment was undertaken for each task. Risk assessments highlighted key hazards, such as the transporting of mechanical and engineering materials to high level working platforms. A key monitoring check was put in place to ensure that, in the example above, a safe system was in place to transport the materials mechanically to avoid manual handling. Relevant parties were consulted throughout the risk assessment process.
Compliance review schedule
A weekly compliance review schedule was developed. A list of example checks to follow was produced and documented on the compliance review schedule. Monitoring was undertaken and the schedule was updated when actions were completed and closed off, or altered to reflect changes to construction schedules.
Mr Stapleton notes that there were a number of benefits to health and safety risk profiling including providing a focus to the assurance team, anticipating and planning to minimise risk, as well as the identification of key risk themes. Risk profiling can be a time consuming and resource-intensive process and, as with any technique, the outputs will only be as good as the information gathered, the competence of those involved, the methodology used to validate the process, and the commitment of those responsible for leading organisations.
The key benefits of health and safety risk profiling are that it can be used to focus on the real risks facing an organisation, and as such can be outcome driven, helping to increase ownership by the responsible persons. Health and safety professionals can play an important role in the risk profiling process, particularly if they have a good a good working knowledge of their organisation, combined with suitable risk management expertise.
Finally, it should be noted that health and safety risk profiling does not stand alone from the bigger risk profile of an organisation; risks are often interconnected and cannot be considered in isolation. Risk profiles need to be actively monitored, as internal as well as external changes may affect the dynamic profile.
How is risk profile measured?
FAQ – What determines a risk profile? A variety of factors determine an investor’s risk profile. These factors include willingness to take on risk, investor’s age, loss-bearing capacity, investment time horizon, investment objectives, net worth relative to liabilities, financial goals, income, and return expectations, amongst others.
What is a risk profile questionnaire? A risk profile questionnaire is a tool used to measure an investor’s risk tolerance. The questionnaire scores an individual based on survey questions, and it helps define investor objectives and guides financial institutions on portfolio recommendations and asset allocation.
Why is risk profiling necessary? A risk profile is one of the most important first steps to financial planning, as investment portfolios and products are recommended based on investors’ willingness to take on risk. Risk profiles can also change over time, so it is essential as it helps financial planners re-assess asset allocations and investment strategies.
Why is risk profiling important?
A risk profile is an evaluation of an individual’s willingness and ability to take risks. A risk profile is important for determining a proper investment asset allocation for a portfolio. Organizations use a risk profile as a way to mitigate potential risks and threats.
Why should risk profiling be done?
The primary aim of risk profiling is to ensure that investment recommendations of financial planners match an investor’s financial and emotional aptitude to engage in financial transactions. the investor’s risk need, her ability to take risks and behavioral investor tolerance.
Who is responsible for maintaining a risk profile?
Ultimately, the accountable authority is responsible for ensuring the appropriate management of an entity’s risk profile. In practice, the manager/s of the entity’s risk registers, and therefore the profile, will vary depending on the size, nature and complexity of the entity.
What are the 5 pillars of risk?
Five Pillars of Risk Management – Staying ahead of risk means responding and being able to respond when a risk is realized in order to avoid schedule delays. The five pillars of staying ahead of risk are incredibly important for every company. The pillars of risk are effective reporting, communication, business process improvement, proactive design, and contingency planning.
What is the risk profiling matrix?
What Is a Risk Assessment Matrix? – A risk assessment matrix, also known as a Probability and Severity or Likelihood and Impact risk matrix, is a visual tool depicting potential risks affecting a business. The risk matrix is based on two intersecting factors: the likelihood the risk event will occur and the potential impact the risk event will have.
In other words, it’s a tool that helps you visualize the probability versus the severity of a potential risk. Depending on likelihood and severity, risks can be categorized as high, moderate, or low. As part of the risk management process, companies use risk matrices to help them prioritize different risks and develop an appropriate mitigation strategy.
Risk matrices work on large and small scales; this system of risk prioritization can be applied at the discrete project level, or at the enterprise level. Take the risks of the COVID-19 pandemic as a risk assessment matrix example. Supply-chain disruption might be classified as a high-level risk — an event with a high probability of occurring and a significant impact on the business.
This risk affects the entire organization and would be an example of an enterprise-level risk. Meanwhile, at the project level, COVID-19 could pose a “key person” and timeline risk if a team member crucial to the project contracts COVID-19 and is unable to work for a significant period of time. This risk may not affect the entire organization but has a significant impact on the project.
At the project risk level, this might also be an event with a high probability of occurring and a significant impact on the project. Still, even unusual risk events can have a significant impact on business outcomes. While it’s uncommon in many industries, a fatal workplace injury would be high-impact and reportable to OSHA.
What are the types of risk profiles?
Investing in the stock market can be a daunting task, especially for beginners. There are many factors to consider, such as economic conditions, company performance, and market trends. However, one of the most important factors to consider when investing is the level of risk that you are willing to take.
- Understanding your risk profile can help you make informed decisions and invest in the right stocks that align with your goals and expectations.
- What is Investor Risk Profile? An investor’s risk profile is a measure of how much risk an investor is willing to take to achieve their investment goals.
- It is determined by various factors, such as age, financial goals, investment experience, and personality.
Risk profile is usually classified into three categories: conservative, moderate, and aggressive.
Conservative investors take low risks, focus on safe investments (e.g., gov’t bonds, fixed deposits, debt funds), and prioritize stable returns over higher returns.
Possible Allocation – Equity: 10-30%; Debt and others: 70-90%
Moderate investors take some risks, balancing low- and high-risk securities such as equity mutual funds, balanced funds, and blue-chip stocks. They tolerate market volatility to potentially gain higher returns in the long run.
Possible Allocation – Equity: 40-60%; Debt and others: 40-60%
Aggressive investors prioritize growth potential and invest in high-risk securities with a shorter investment horizon than conservative or moderate investors.
Possible Allocation – Equity: 90-100%; Debt and others: 0-10% It is important to note that an investor’s capacity to take a risk does not equate to their preference for taking such a risk. Even if they have the financial means, some investors may opt for a less risky strategy and avoid substantial risks.
What are the 3 steps to risk profile?
In this installment of our Risk Management Basics series, we’re going to take a closer look at risk assessment. In doing so, we’ll break risk assessment down into three separate steps: risk identification, risk analysis, and risk evaluation. We hope this article and our entire Risk Management Basics series will help you gain a better understanding of risk management and help you begin to use risk management techniques at your workplace.
What are the 4 pillars of risk?
Risk Management and 4 Pillars – The Four Pillars of Risk Management now underpin the Risk Management Plans that we use to manage the risks identified in the risk assessment process. The 4 Pillars of risk Management is an approach to the planning and delivery of risk management developed by Professor Hazel Kemshall at De Montfort University.
- The model is based on the four pillars of Supervision, Monitoring & Control, Interventions and Treatment and Victim Safety Planning.
- In order to develop effective risk management plans, staff need to have a good understanding of the offence, the circumstances leading up to the offence, the victim group and how these factors interlink to enable an offence to be committed.
Offender + Victim + Context/Circumstances = Offence (Scott 1977) When completing R10.1-R10.5 you should ensure that you are covering the following areas:
-
- Who is at risk of what;
- Relevant risk factors;
- Likely scenarios in which re-offending may occur and
- Protective factors
By having a clear risk assessment and understanding of the above areas you can then ensure that risk management strategies can be matched accordingly.
What is a risk profile questionnaire?
This questionnaire is designed to measure how you feel and think about risks that come with investing.
What are the 3 steps to risk profile?
In this installment of our Risk Management Basics series, we’re going to take a closer look at risk assessment. In doing so, we’ll break risk assessment down into three separate steps: risk identification, risk analysis, and risk evaluation. We hope this article and our entire Risk Management Basics series will help you gain a better understanding of risk management and help you begin to use risk management techniques at your workplace.
What is the difference between risk profiling and risk assessment?
Risk profiling Croner-i is a comprehensive knowledge and resource platform that enables professionals to stay ahead of change in their industry, with legislation, trends and best practice. Call to learn more. Last reviewed 16 November 2020 Justin Tyas discusses the concept of risk profiling in relation to health and safety management.
The concept of risk profiling is not a new one. Its application is found in a wide range of disciplines from business risk management, such as financial and insurance, to medicine (including genetics) and science. Risk profiling has even been used to profile passengers in an attempt to use risk based approaches to improve airport security.
According to the PD ISO Guide 73:2009 Risk Management. Vocabulary : “A risk profile is a description of a set of risks The set of risks can contain those that relate to the whole organisation, part of the organisation, or as otherwise defined.” Therefore, a risk profile can include the risks that the entire organisation must manage or only those that a particular function or part of the organisation must address.
- HGS65 Managing for Health and Safety by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) establishes the concept of risk profiling in health and safety management.
- The guidance explains the Plan, Do, Check, Act model (Deming Cycle) for a health and safety management system.
- According to the guidance, this approach achieves a balance between systems and management, treating health and safety as an integral part of good management, rather than a stand-alone safety management system.
This is important because it acknowledges that health and safety risks are part of the overall risk profile of an organisation, and there is tacit acknowledgment of the interconnectedness of risks. Profiling an organisation’s health and safety risks comes within the “Doing” part of the cycle.
- Many organisations are looking to implement and certify management system British or international standards.
- They all now incorporate Annex XL which describes a framework for a generic management system.
- It aims to improve consistency and alignment of standards by providing a High Level Structure (HLS) and common text for all management system standards.
See the topic, Risk profiling is a systematic and structured approach to risk management which, if done correctly, should provide organisations with a detailed picture of all the risk elements of its operations, the effectiveness of the controls in place to mitigate the risks, as well as a framework for assurance and monitoring its higher risk priorities.
Organisations’ “appetite” for risk will differ considerably and this may be partly a function of the size and complexity of the organisation, driven by the operations and processes it conducts, as well as the culture of the organisation. Some organisations may be willing to accept or retain risk, others may seek to implement risk management strategies to reduce or control, transfer or avoid risk.
Every organisation will have its own risk profile: this is the starting point for determining the health and safety issues facing the organisation. In some organisations, the risk profile will consist of tangible and immediate safety hazards, while in others the risks may be longer term health-related risks, and it may be a long time before illness becomes apparent.
a summary of the key strategic and operational health and safety risks for an organisation quantification of these risks, in terms of likelihood and potential impact identification of the current controls, their effectiveness and improvement potential identification of any controls not yet in place and any (new) emerging risks with plans on how to deal with them a framework for monitoring and assurance, including a prioritised action plan with recommendations for improvements to address weaknesses with further controls and/or mitigation.
The range of risks normally includes quality (of product or services), environmental, injury, ill health and assets damage. Pure health and safety risks generally range from low hazard high frequency, eg slips on floors, to high hazard low frequency events, such as an oil refinery explosion, with the latter being at the top of the risk profile priority.
the right risks have been identified and prioritised for action minor risks will not be given too much priority the level of risk will be reduced to that which is acceptable paperwork and bureaucracy will be kept to the minimum necessary performance will be reviewed and lessons learned.
The HSE provides guidance in HSG65 on what it considers to be the key actions in effective risk profiling, which make explicit the actions required of leaders (ownerships and responsibility) and managers (operational and process) to identify and quantify the strategic and operational risk of the organisation.
- Risk profiling involves gathering information about operations and process, using existing risk assessments, and risk assessment methodology to evaluate risks, and developing a suitable means for monitoring and providing assurance.
- Some organisations use risk registers to enable them to document and monitor key risks.
Those who undertake risk assessments need to be competent to do so. While some organisations may choose to use external expertise to help them develop their risk profile, anyone doing so must have a broad knowledge of the entire organisation and have risk management expertise.
Risk information generated from interviews, eg with directors, senior managers, operational managers and staff, and from workshops needs to be confirmed, and ranked, and together with other data (eg risk assessments) should form the basis of an overall risk profile. According to James Stapleton in his 2011 report, Lessons Learned from the London 2012 Games Construction Project: Health and Safety Risk Profiling, health and safety risk profiling contributed to the positive safety culture of the London 2012 programme, and promoted careful planning and safe delivery during the construction project.
A health and safety profile for construction works planned over three months was developed, using the following plan.
Gathering information
Project teams on planned work over a three-month construction period were spoken to about their work. The data captured was analysed and for each project a summary of 12-15 key tasks were identified as taking place over the next 90 days. The health and safety hazards anticipated from these planned tasks were then assessed.
Risk assessment of future works
A risk assessment was undertaken for each task. Risk assessments highlighted key hazards, such as the transporting of mechanical and engineering materials to high level working platforms. A key monitoring check was put in place to ensure that, in the example above, a safe system was in place to transport the materials mechanically to avoid manual handling. Relevant parties were consulted throughout the risk assessment process.
Compliance review schedule
A weekly compliance review schedule was developed. A list of example checks to follow was produced and documented on the compliance review schedule. Monitoring was undertaken and the schedule was updated when actions were completed and closed off, or altered to reflect changes to construction schedules.
Mr Stapleton notes that there were a number of benefits to health and safety risk profiling including providing a focus to the assurance team, anticipating and planning to minimise risk, as well as the identification of key risk themes. Risk profiling can be a time consuming and resource-intensive process and, as with any technique, the outputs will only be as good as the information gathered, the competence of those involved, the methodology used to validate the process, and the commitment of those responsible for leading organisations.
- The key benefits of health and safety risk profiling are that it can be used to focus on the real risks facing an organisation, and as such can be outcome driven, helping to increase ownership by the responsible persons.
- Health and safety professionals can play an important role in the risk profiling process, particularly if they have a good a good working knowledge of their organisation, combined with suitable risk management expertise.
Finally, it should be noted that health and safety risk profiling does not stand alone from the bigger risk profile of an organisation; risks are often interconnected and cannot be considered in isolation. Risk profiles need to be actively monitored, as internal as well as external changes may affect the dynamic profile.
What are the types of risk profiles?
Investing in the stock market can be a daunting task, especially for beginners. There are many factors to consider, such as economic conditions, company performance, and market trends. However, one of the most important factors to consider when investing is the level of risk that you are willing to take.
Understanding your risk profile can help you make informed decisions and invest in the right stocks that align with your goals and expectations. What is Investor Risk Profile? An investor’s risk profile is a measure of how much risk an investor is willing to take to achieve their investment goals. It is determined by various factors, such as age, financial goals, investment experience, and personality.
Risk profile is usually classified into three categories: conservative, moderate, and aggressive.
Conservative investors take low risks, focus on safe investments (e.g., gov’t bonds, fixed deposits, debt funds), and prioritize stable returns over higher returns.
Possible Allocation – Equity: 10-30%; Debt and others: 70-90%
Moderate investors take some risks, balancing low- and high-risk securities such as equity mutual funds, balanced funds, and blue-chip stocks. They tolerate market volatility to potentially gain higher returns in the long run.
Possible Allocation – Equity: 40-60%; Debt and others: 40-60%
Aggressive investors prioritize growth potential and invest in high-risk securities with a shorter investment horizon than conservative or moderate investors.
Possible Allocation – Equity: 90-100%; Debt and others: 0-10% It is important to note that an investor’s capacity to take a risk does not equate to their preference for taking such a risk. Even if they have the financial means, some investors may opt for a less risky strategy and avoid substantial risks.