on Risk & Safety

Guest Post by Bill Pomfret (first posted on CERM ® RISK INSIGHTS – reposted here with permission)

The five in a 5S workplace organizational and housekeeping methodology refers to five steps – sort, set in order, shine, standardize and sustain. Safety should be the honorary sixth “S.

Many manufacturing facilities have opted to follow the path towards a “5S” workplace organizational and housekeeping methodology as part of continuous improvement or lean manufacturing processes. The term refers to five steps – sort, set in order, shine, standardize and sustain – that are also sometimes known as the five pillars of a visual workplace.

Guest Post by Peter Holtmann (first posted on CERM ® RISK INSIGHTS – reposted here with permission)

This article is the seventh of fourteen parts to our risk management series. The series will be taking a look at the risk management guidelines under the ISO 31000 Standard to help you better understand them and how they relate to your own risk management activities. In doing so, we’ll be walking through the core aspects of the Standard and giving you practical guidance on how to implement it. [Read more…]

Guest Post by James Kline (first posted on CERM ® RISK INSIGHTS – reposted here with permission)

In CERM Risk Insights #354 I discussed the risk management study of local governments in New Zealand. One of the cases in the study was Environment Canterbury Regional Council. The regional council’s focus and the increasing concerns about environmental risks by both the public and private sector represents a challenge to the common approach used by most of the New Zealand local governments, ISO 31000:2018 and the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) more generally. This piece discusses this challenge to ISO 31000:2018 and its implications.

Guest Post by Malcolm Peart (first posted on CERM ® RISK INSIGHTS – reposted here with permission)

In project management we can’t always be in control of the environment around us.  We can only forecast rather than predict risk and despite our ‘reasonable’ or even ‘best’ efforts to mitigate risk; shit happens and emergencies ensue!  It’s not just physical emergencies but also those related to time and cost; remember overbudget or late projects can create an emergency for shareholders and stakeholders alike.

Maybe it’s because we tend to look at the ‘big risks’ or the ‘top ten’ after some semiquantitative assessment but then fail to consider that risks can change with time as more information becomes available.  Or, maybe it is because only those risks that can be clearly defined and are ‘likely’ are communicated to the eyes and ears on the ground.  Those low probability, high impact risks can tend to slip under any risk radar.

Guest Post by John Ayers (first posted on CERM ® RISK INSIGHTS – reposted here with permission)

The majority of companies today outsource a major portion (up to 60-70%) of their work scope to subcontractors.  As a result, the subcontractors become a risk to your project because you have no direct control over them. For example, if they start to slip their schedule you cannot direct them to put more assets on the job to pull the schedule back. The other risk that is not obvious is that posed by your subcontractors major vendors or subcontractors. To illustrate this point, this article describes a story that I was personally involved in. 

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Guest Post by Carl Carlson (first posted on CERM ® RISK INSIGHTS – reposted here with permission)

Destiny is no matter of chance. It is a matter of choice. It is not a thing to be waited for, it is a thing to be achieved.” – William Jennings Bryan

The Oxford English dictionary defines “reliability” as “the quality of being able to be trusted to do what somebody wants or needs.”

The textbook definition for “reliability” is “the probability that an item will perform its intended function for a designated period of time without failure under specified operating and environmental conditions.”

In this article, I will share a brief outline of the current and future state of reliability engineering, what works and doesn’t work, and why it matters to all of us.

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Guest Post by John Ayers (first posted on CERM ® RISK INSIGHTS – reposted here with permission)

Based on my career experience as a project manager, I have observed that promotions can come quicker in a small company compared to a large one. This is especially true after you have gained several years’ experience. For some reason, many large companies are slow in giving promotions unless you are a rising star.  If you are not a rising start and want to get a promotion, I suggest you look for opportunities in small companies to get the title you want (e.g., project manager).

Once you have the title, no one can take it away which means after several years’ experience in a small company you have a much better chance of getting the same position but with more responsibility and pay in a large company. The challenge is-do you have the right stuff to succeed in a small company?