A case study on the implementation of critical risk management
Critical Risk Management (CRM) is increasingly becoming a priority for most organisations. In many cases, business will look to external guidance or specialist software for the implementation of a CRM process. In 2020 Mitchell Services embarked on an implementation guided by the internal leadership team, HSE team and operational teams. Mitchell Services, utilising the International Council of Mining and Metals (ICMM) guidelines as a starting point, has been able to practically implement a critical risk assurance process which involves the frontline operational teams in the review and practical implementation of critical control verifications.
This implementation has changed how work is conducted across the business and has provided Mitchell Services stakeholders (eg. Board, Clients) assurance that our critical risk is being managed. Rather than adding additional bureaucracy, the program focused on using already embedded routines such as site inspections, observations and interactions to enable verification of critical controls. This work also led to a change in the electronic HSE management system to host the performance standards for the critical controls and to integrate the inspections in a closed-loop system.
Through this case study, Mitchell Services hopes to demonstrate that this important work can be completed internally, by any business size, as they work to review critical risk within their business and create a framework to manage critical controls. Completing this work internally, provided the additional benefits of upskilling the HSE team, an increased the level of understanding and involvement from business leaders and gave ownership of critical risk management to the frontline operational teams.