Have you identified your principal/critical risks?
How are you maintaining your due diligence obligations?
What’s your risk appetite?
Have you identified what can go wrong, how can it happen and what the result will be?
What is a Principal/Critical Risk?
WorkSafe NZ refer to principal hazards or risks as part of their narrative and the term is heavily referenced in the mining regulations. But, this term does not not only apply to mining.
All organisations (and the staff that work for them) face risk to a varying degree on a daily basis. A hazard that has the potential to create multiple fatalities from a single event, or a single fatality from recurring accidents is a principal/critical risk.
How Do We Assess Principal/Critical Risks?
At Intesafety we use a Broad-Brush Risk Assessment (BBRA) approach to assess the risks for the organisation and its operations.
The primary objective of the resulting risk register is to undertake a structured and systematic assessment process to enable critical and objective assessment of the company’s risks. It also works to:
- Assist the company to identify hazards and manage associated risks whilst operating and to satisfy their obligations in accordance with:
- The company’s Health & Safety Management Plan
- Applicable industry legislation
- Recognised Standard for Risk Management ISO 31000
- Facilitate a process to:
- Identify potential ‘high consequence’ Health & Safety (or other) risks and their potential impacts on business goals
- Identify planned and existing controls
- Assess the consequence and likelihood with the planned/existing controls in place; and
- Identify risk reduction strategies to reduce the risk to an acceptable level
- Record the process and provide a report consistent with the scope
The developed risk register allows the company to identify its principal/critical risks and prioritise its resources for the mitigation of these risks.
Principal/Critical Risk Analysis using the InControl Bowtie Method
The bowtie method is a common risk evaluation method that can be used to analyse and demonstrate causal relationships in principal/critical risk scenarios.
The method takes its name from the shape of the diagram that you create, which looks like a men’s bowtie.
Below is an example format for the bowtie, showing the hazards feeding into the top event in the centre. Threats and controls are shown on the left of the event while the recovery barriers and consequence and escalation details are recorded on the right.
Our partners INX provide a health and safety management database InControl which (among many other functions) provides a risk assessment and analysis based on the Bowtie methodology.
InControl data entry requires identification of activity tasks along with the examination of causal factors and controls. Outcome consequences and escalation factors are also reviewed with each element linked to an action module, which can then be assigned to responsible staff to maintain the controls status.
The InControl mobile application allows easy access for staff to report, action or view data within the database. The scheduled outputs can include comprehensive reporting and analysis processes for up to date, accurate, and detailed reports for supervisors and management team.
What’s your critical risk? Don’t assume it is being adequately managed – verify that it is.