Non-financial risk management for Police Force Dissertation

Non-financial risk management for Police Force - Dissertation Example Thus, risk management as a process â€Å"that can be used to identify potential risks and liabilities that could result in some kind of loss for both public and private sector organizations† (Cukier et al. 2009: p.1) should be understood as an integral part of police accountability. Risk management helps to provide more effective governance and internal control, to reduce insurance and other costs, to ensure a safer working environment. Although the risk management issues are increasingly emerging in agendas of police agencies, Cukier et al. (2009), consider that today risk management in the police services remains a relatively new discipline; different police agencies implement processes and tools in significantly different ways, they even use different terminology and vocabularies for the same things. This document presents a proposal for a piece of research which is aimed to analyse existing methods, procedures and processes of non-financial risk management in the police fo rce agencies; to identify best practices; and to develop and implement such risk management framework for a police force to become the best police force in the world. We hope that our study will play a significant role in improvement of the management and functioning of police force agencies and will make a contribution in positive changes in the system of the world security at a whole. 2. Background Risk is generally understood as â€Å"the chance of something happening that will have an impact on objectives† (OMBC 2007: p. 5) or â€Å"a condition, trend or event that may adversely impact the achievement of Service or Unit objectives† (Cukier et al. 2009: p.7). The impact may be both positive (when it brings an opportunity or a good chance) and negative (when it brings a hazard or a threat). So risk is always characterised by three major elements: an event, which can happen in relation to an object; a consequence of this event; and the impact, which this consequence h as on the object. When a risk is being assessed, it is also important to take into consideration the likelihood of the event. In business, risk management (i.e. recognising, identifying and assessing of risks) is considered as an essential positive aspect of a corporate culture. It helps managers to realise supposed risks and to consider them in performing day-to-day tasks, ensuring that either opportunities will be captured and used (in a case of a positive impact) or threats will be mitigated and eliminated (in a case of a negative impact). Archbold (2005) adds that risk management implies the protection of physical, human and financial assets. From the perspective of employees, risk management ensures safer working environment and improved conditions of work. Risk management can be generally defined as â€Å"a systematic, cyclical process to set the best course of action, under uncertainty, by identifying, assessing, mitigating, monitoring and communicating risk† (Cukier e t al. 2009: p.7). Many police force professionals and experts agree that today risk management is crucial for police agencies. As the work and role of police officers differ from other professions, mission of risk management in

Aviation Safety Program Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Aviation Safety Program - Essay Example The security blunder that took thousands of lives on that fateful day is still a cause for debate. How could a few terrorists manage to walk through security, and after hijacking the planes, crash them into prominent, high-security areas in New York and Washington D.C This security lapse may well go down in history as the biggest human error to be recorded in the modern times. The airport security got it all wrong. This factor is applicable to other fields as well. The risk of deliberate acts of terrorism, sabotage, vandalism and theft can cause the release of highly hazardous chemicals and biological gases from a process facility. This could have severs repercussion. Unless managed properly, the result could have catastrophic impact on civilization. The risk from such acts must be assessed to determine if existing security measures and safeguards are adequate or need improvement. Risk assessment is the heart of a security program (Human Factors and Human Error Analysis, http://www.primatech.com/consulting/services/human_factors_and_human_error_analysis.htm) People are key components of the process. They are involved in process design, production, operation, maintenance, and security. No step in the process life cycle is complete without some human involvement. Also, processes are generally not well-protected from human errors since many safeguards are directly focused on equipment failure. This is evidenced by the number of major accidents that have been attributed to this cause. Aviation is no different. Technical flaws, mechanical malfunctions, security lapses, and human error have all been attributed to aviation accidents. The human factor is perhaps the major cause for concern in safety procedures. It is vital that the factors influencing the likelihood of errors be identified and assessed to determine where, and if improvements in design of a process are needed. Surprising but true, human factor is most poorly understood in safety management. However, the standards from regulatory agencies and industry groups have underscored the importance of addressing human factors in process safety and risk management programs. This is motivating more companies to evaluate and address human factors issues in their facilities. Improving the human factors design of a process can produce not only improvements in safety, but also gains in quality, productivity and job satisfaction (Human Factors and Human Error Analysis, http://www.primatech.com/consulting/services/human_factors_and_human_error_analysis.htm) 2.0 Introduction "The Human Factors Analysis and Classification System (HFACS), is a general human error framework developed and tested within the U.S. military as a tool for investigating and analyzing the human causes of aviation accidents. Based on Reason's (1990) model of latent and active failures, HFACS addresses human error at all levels of the system, including the condition of aircrew and organizational factors. This was used to analyze human error data associated with commercial aviation accidents that occurred between