Over the last 10 years, businesses, not-for-profit organisations and public sector bodies have
been encouraged or cajoled to appraise their approach to risk
management. Originally driven by an internal audit and
controls agenda, the rise of international terrorism, the World
Trade Centre attack and the fall-out from the Enron corporate
fraud has led to a legal compliance approach to risk management.
In the UK, publicly listed companies are
driven by the 1999 Turnbull Report provided directors with guidance on how to tackle internal control
leading to the UK Combined Code on Corporate Governance for all
UK-listed companies.
In the US, the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 ("SOX")
compels company directors and managers to disclose all controls
inadequacies and frauds, to monitor all operational risks and
require external auditors to certify internal controls.
In the UK, third sector organisations and
charities are being pushed by government and sector Regulators
to adopt "best practice" in risk management.
We have developed the Risk
Register Access database tool to help organisations to
record strategic and operational risks across all aspects of
their activities. The Risk Register uses
risk scores to provide business managers with the means to
analyse risks and prioritise remediation actions.
For internal auditors, the Risk
Register contains a facility to record controls and
audit checks in response to each risk. Controls can be
analysed as Reductive, Detective, Preventative or Reactive.
The features of Risk Register
include:
 | Fully parameterised for maximum flexibility |
| The consequences for the organisation of each risk can be captured |
| A Risk Register Report that can be filtered and sorted |
| Risks can be assigned to "owners" (i.e. responsible managers) |
| Automatically calculated "red-amber-yellow-green" risk categories |
| Risk scores automatically calculated based on Likelihood, Importance and Impact |
| Cost to the organisation |
| Risk management based on date first recorded, date last reviewed and Target Date
to Closure |
| Risk Mitigations can be recorded for each recorded risk |
| Controls and control checks can be recorded for each risk and risk-mitigation |
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Greater probability of
achieving of objectives |
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Provides a transparent and uniform process,
at all levels of an organisation, for the management of risk, opportunity and compliance
objectives |
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The information that can be
recorded and reported addresses all of the "best
practices" in risk management today |
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Provides a quick and effective
means of formally recording risks |
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Enables organisations to comply
with their obligations to manage their risks |
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Provides a powerful tool for
internal auditors |
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Managed risks help organisations
to survive business storms |
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Helps organisations to manage
down their risk profile |
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The potential to reduce blanket risk mitigation costs (i.e.
Insurance Premiums) |
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Informed & Controlled risk taking |
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Quick grasp of new opportunities |
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Enhancing communications |
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Reassuring stakeholders |
