Lessons on Approaches to Enterprise Risk Management Based on Experiences in Managing Safety Health and Environmental Risks in Chemical Firms

Managing risk is something that all of us do, at least unconsciously in our profession, business and family. In spite of this, or perhaps because of’ it there are significant differences in the understanding and use of the concepts and terms of risk assessment, a basic operation underlying ‘Enterprise Risk Management’.

The presentation illustrates some of these conceptual difficulties by examples from the area of major chemical process accidents, outlines how the OECD attempted to overcome them via development of its CARAT system and. emphasizes the need for each participant in this National Academy of Sciences meeting to operationally define the risk terminology used in their presentations on Enterprise Risk Management.

The paper concludes with an outline of one approach to a policy statement and strategy that a chemical firm might use to guide the management of the Safety, Health and Environmental risks associated with its operations and products throughout its enterprise.