INTHEBLACK August 2022 - Magazine - Page 48
F E AT U R E
// R I S K M A N A G E M E N T
Above: Professor Qihe Tang, University of New South Wales
“The most fundamental influencer of
emerging risk is climate change. The second
is due to technology developments and
people using advanced technology that
they don’t fully understand. The third comes
from the fact that the whole world is more
interconnected than ever. This interconnection
produces a new source of risk.”
PROFESSOR QIHE TANG, UNIVERSITY OF NEW SOUTH WALES
48 ITB August 2022
is also running a course on risk management within
Griffith University’s School of Engineering and Built
Environment.
“It is only when risk intersects with people directly
or indirectly that we become motivated to act.
“For instance, bushfire responses focus on areas
that directly affect people, like homes and property,
and assets that are deemed important with indirect
consequences, like critical infrastructure, for example,
communications towers, bridges, power. So, if you
take people out of the equation, there’s no risk.”
Of course, this means that in organisations, people
are also an essential ingredient in the recipe for good
risk management.
However, businesses can sometimes focus so
intently on risk management that they turn their
people off the idea or fear the consequences of taking
on any type of risk.
“As some organisations are fixating on risk, they’re
creating processes and policies that actually impede
the ability of their people to do their jobs,” Sisson
says.
“Those people tend to become disconnected, and
disengagement is a big issue in risk management.
“If an employee is actively disengaged, they don’t
pay as much attention, they make more mistakes and
they just don’t care as much. So if they see something