
Setting your alarm before you go to bed…that is risk management in its most simplistic
sense! I wanted to share a ‘risky’ story with you about a colleague called Betty.
Betty’s journey to work takes her about 1hour 30minutes. She drives to the station to catch a
train from Maidstone East station to London Victoria. She travels on the underground from
Victoria to Cannon Bridge station. It's a 5-minute walk from Cannon Bridge station to her
office.
Her objective is to arrive work on time to resume her 9a.m. shift.
What could stop her achieving this objective? She has identified a risk of possible delays
in getting to work. There could potentially be several events that may trigger (cause) this
risk:
She might oversleep
She may have a flat car battery
She may slip and fall over outside Maidstone East or Cannon Bridge station
There might be train or tube cancellations or delays
Can you think of some other risks she might face and how she can manage them?
We are all exposed to risks in our daily lives, be it in or outside work. It is useful to identify
these risks in order to manage them to an acceptable level.
This is what risk management is all about too!
“Risk Management is the process of identifying, assessing and controlling threats to
which an organisation is exposed.”
There’s an important discussion here that we should all be having across our Organisations
– what are these risks we face, and what can we do to minimise them?
To help you think about risk management, we can work with you and your Organisation to
put together a practical solution tailor made to suit your requirements.
Dorothy Otite