Author

IIA-Australia

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Extract/Description

A key activity performed as part of the risk management process is to describe a risk (risk description).

A risk description allows someone to better understand what a risk actually is. The better the risk description, the better understood it will be, and the better will be risk treatments designed to address the risk.

Key Points

1. It is important the risk description includes all three aspects of the risk – the objective, the effect and the uncertainty.
2. It is advisable to be consistent in the way risks are described. Consistency enables duplicate and similar risks to be identified so they may be considered together. The grouping can be by risk source or by consequence.
3. The approach to description can affect usefulness of the information contained in a risk description.

Relevant Industries

Level of Assumed Knowledge