Risk Profiling

If you do not measure and understand your organisations unique risk profile then you can’t put action in place to strategically action, monitor and reduce it over time. Risk Profiling helps organisations identify, assess and prioritise risks, leading to more effective and targeted safety measures.

• Understanding Context: Risk profiling allows organisations to understand the specific conditions and factors that contribute to risks in their operations. By identifying these factors, organisations can develop more context-specific safety measures that are practical and effective.
• Prioritising Resources: It helps in prioritising resources by focusing on the most significant risks. This ensures that time, effort, and money are directed towards mitigating risks that have the highest potential impact on safety.
• Improving Decision-Making: Risk profiling enhances decision-making by providing a clear picture of where the greatest threats lie. This information helps leaders and safety professionals make informed decisions about where to implement controls and allocate resources.
• Preventing Normalisation of Deviance: It helps in identifying areas where deviations from standard procedures are becoming normalised. Understanding these deviations allows organisations to address underlying issues before they lead to incidents.
• Enhancing Learning and Improvement: Profiling risks encourages a culture of continuous learning and improvement. It enables organisations to learn from past incidents and near misses, leading to the development of better safety practices and policies.
• Building Psychological Safety: When employees see that their organisation is actively profiling and managing risks, it fosters a sense of psychological safety. They are more likely to report hazards and near misses, knowing that their input is valued and that actions will be taken to mitigate risks.
• Supporting Resilience: Risk profiling contributes to building organisational resilience by preparing the organisation to handle unexpected events. By understanding and planning for various risks, organisations can respond more effectively to incidents, minimising their impact.

• Boards should ask about their organisations operational risk profile, its alignment with the organisations risk appetite, and what actions are taken to strategically reduce risks and associated gaps.
• Organisations need to proactively measure and monitor their risk profile through regular audits and assurance, including reviews by independent experts such as HSE Global.
• Regular reporting on the organisation’s risk profile should be conducted and communicated to the board.
• For organisations involved in M&A, a clear risk profile of the target company is essential to identify and manage at-risk behaviours or legacy HSE issues before the acquisition.

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