Week 6 - Humans and Risk

• Humans perform a number of roles in the management of risk. What are they?

  • Risk perceiver: Stakeholders who consider and hold a view about a risk.
  • Risk analyser: People who identify and assess risks and determine the controls needed to manage risk
  • Risk controller: People who are exposed to the risk and have to manage it.
  • Risk communicator: People who disseminate information about risk and risk management processes
• What factors affect how people perceive risks?

  • Conscious factors (Training & Past experiences)
  • Subconscious factors (Individual skills & propensity)
  • Affective factors (Cultural influences)
• What does good situational awareness require?

  • Level 1: Perception of the elements in the environment
  • Level 2: Comprehension of the current situation
  • Level 3: Projection of future status
• Approximately, what % of chemical industry failures are attributed to human error?

  80-90%
• State four characteristics for organisations with a high-risk appetite

  • Strategic objectives target above industry levels
  • Strategy focused on value creation vs value protection
  • Many risks taken with high upside and downside
  • May underestimate hazards and threats seeing them as a challenge to overcome
  • May overestimate opportunities and pursue them over threats
  • Failures considered part of learning
  • Levels of innovation relatively high
  • Operate within low levels of prescriptive regulation