International Guidance on Managing Risk Published

Standards Australia has published AS ISO 31000:2018, Risk Management – Guidelines as an Australian adoption of the international standard released earlier this year.

Drawing on world leading practices to advise organisations on how to manage risk, ISO 31000 represents an updated tool to help identify and respond to a rapidly changing risk landscape.

Standards Australia CEO Dr Bronwyn Evans said new technologies and streamlined processes were creating new areas of risk that are being “identified day-by-day, and impact organisations of every shape and size.”

“One example of a new risk is cyber security and data protection, which was relatively unheard of five to ten years ago but now presents as a unique risk with many organisations unsure of how to respond to this effectively.”

As is the trend in international standards, the new AS ISO 31000 places a increased emphasis on the involvement of senior management, as well as recommending risk management be part of an organisation’s structure and processes. It is designed to provide a baseline approach to risk-management that can be used by any business regardless of industry.

International Technical Committee Chair Jason Brown said that on an international level, “more and more industries and organisations are adopting a risk-based approach to doing business.”

“What this will mean is that AS ISO 31000:2018, Risk Management – Guidelines will continue to develop its application, nationally and internationally, in support of governance, value protection and good decision making, be called in more standards, and used in management systems by organisations, to manage risk at all levels.”

Dr Evans said HB 188 Physical Protective Security Treatment for Buildings and AS 4811 Workforce Screening were just two examples of the growing trend in standards utilising a risk-based approach to ensure their relevance for any business in any industry.