Risk is an integral component of life. Every action and every inaction presents a new scope of risk in any view of all aspects of existence. This pervasive element is important to understand as much as possible. While risk cannot be eliminated it can be mitigated through prior planning that results in protective action. Risk assessment and mitigation are both steps in the larger discipline of risk management. The management of risk is an important activity in homeland security and a basic understanding of the subject is vital to understanding homeland security as a whole.
Basics of Risk Assessment
The Department of Homeland Security has established a formula for broadly assessing risk. The tool is basic in nature and broad enough that users …show more content…
An example of this balancing is the selection of threats. While all threats are valid to asses there must be some amount of restraint placed on the process. For example, it is far more usefull to plan for the risk of a flood threat than to plan for an asteroid strike. While both could happen one is far more likely to occur and there are more attainable actions to mitigate one than the other.
Managing Risk in Private Business
Business utilizes risk management to ensure operations are as free as possible of variables that adversely affect operations and profitability. Part of this process is instituted as a response to government regulation in that critical infrastructure must meet risk management standards and that corporations functioning as government contractors must also meet separate but no less strict standards of risk management.
Engaging in the risk management process is important for ensuring that resources are allocated according to projected need (Obama, 2013). This priority ensures that the organization is not allocating resources to risks that are objectively negligible and ensures that sufficient resources go to programs that really do need …show more content…
Through legislation, regulation, and assessment the government can identify programs that are under performing and impose sanctions and reforms to correct for aberrant behaviors. Entire agencies have been developed for the primary reason of participating in risk management in government, such as the Government Accountability Office. Obviously, the GAO is engaged in more activity than just risk management but a considerable amount of their operations are for risk management and, broadly speaking, a good deal of activities that are not directly risk management do have a role in contributing to the process of risk
Basics of Risk Assessment
The Department of Homeland Security has established a formula for broadly assessing risk. The tool is basic in nature and broad enough that users …show more content…
An example of this balancing is the selection of threats. While all threats are valid to asses there must be some amount of restraint placed on the process. For example, it is far more usefull to plan for the risk of a flood threat than to plan for an asteroid strike. While both could happen one is far more likely to occur and there are more attainable actions to mitigate one than the other.
Managing Risk in Private Business
Business utilizes risk management to ensure operations are as free as possible of variables that adversely affect operations and profitability. Part of this process is instituted as a response to government regulation in that critical infrastructure must meet risk management standards and that corporations functioning as government contractors must also meet separate but no less strict standards of risk management.
Engaging in the risk management process is important for ensuring that resources are allocated according to projected need (Obama, 2013). This priority ensures that the organization is not allocating resources to risks that are objectively negligible and ensures that sufficient resources go to programs that really do need …show more content…
Through legislation, regulation, and assessment the government can identify programs that are under performing and impose sanctions and reforms to correct for aberrant behaviors. Entire agencies have been developed for the primary reason of participating in risk management in government, such as the Government Accountability Office. Obviously, the GAO is engaged in more activity than just risk management but a considerable amount of their operations are for risk management and, broadly speaking, a good deal of activities that are not directly risk management do have a role in contributing to the process of risk