Risk Management
Comprehensive risk registers are maintained at our operations and within our business groups. Risks are identified and assessed using the common methodology specified in our Enterprise-Wide Risk Management (EWRM) Standards.
A project has been completed, as planned, to further refine our health, safety and environment risk assessment methodology. The methodology aims to ensure that potential catastrophic events are identified, understood and effectively managed. The project included external benchmarking with well-established safety risk management programs.
The challenge is now to effectively deploy this comprehensive approach to catastrophic HSEC risk assessment. This will start with 'road-testing' the methodology at key operating sites during 2007.
Pilot programs for a new quantitative operational risk assessment methodology have also been completed. This methodology is aimed at improving our understanding of operational risk where there is the potential for significant impact on people, the environment or our business. When applied, the methodology allows better targeting of efforts to manage risks and provides quantitative justification for risk-reduction investments. This pilot program has included risk assessments at three major port operations and a review of the high voltage electrical system at an alumina refinery.
We have continued with our efforts to fully integrate risk management into our key business processes. This includes ongoing work with our:
- Business Development group – to improve our understanding and assessment of country risk
- Global Maintenance Network – to provide better guidance to sites on the identification and management of critical equipment
- Global Supply group – to incorporate risk reduction into their Value Capture Evaluation process
- Asset Protection group – to further incorporate risk assessment into our emergency response, crisis management and business continuity planning.
Our challenge over 2007 and 2008 is to effectively and efficiently deploy our enhanced risk assessment methodologies and to further integrate risk management into our business processes while maintaining focus on our existing over-arching programs.
