Risk Assessment, 2nd Edition

20 Communicate Risk

Bruce Lyon

Brown & Brown

20.1 Introduction

Risk assessment, by itself, does not achieve its objectives. To reduce uncertainty and effectively manage operational risks, risk‐based information must be communicated with decision makers and top management throughout the process. Assessing and communicating risks enable decision makers to be more effective in making decision and managing risk. Occupational safety and health (OSH) practitioners must be able to not only perform risk assessments, but also effectively communicate the risks to stakeholders. This requires OSH practitioners to understand the nature of the decision that is being made, and the specific information that is needed to help make the decision.

The role of the safety profession is evolving. In the past, the primarily focus of safety practitioners was on regulatory compliance and hazard‐based management. For many years, the role of OSH practitioners was to adequately identify hazards and gaps in compliance. Compliance and hazard management are still part of the role; however, safety practitioners are now being required to take a more risk‐based approach to identify, assess, evaluate, and control risks. This involves analyzing and estimating risk levels that hazards present so that they can be evaluated, prioritized, and managed to an acceptable level. In addition, this process must include the communication of the results with management and decision makers to consistently manage operational ...