A Formalised Approach to the Management of Risk: A Conceptual Framework and Ontology

Taking pragmatic, systems engineering approach, this paper identifies a number of fundamental issues that presently arise in risk management, primarily as a result of the overly complex approach conventionally taken in process definition and a lack of coherence within the current risk management vocabulary. The aim of the paper is to enable a fundamental simplification of the risk management process and an improved understanding of the associated terminology. The outcome of this work is a formalised but pragmatic approach to risk management resulting in the development of a conceptual framework and an associated ontology, which emphasises the understanding of people and their environment as part of risk management. The approach has been validated in a number of case studies of varying depth and breadth from the IT domain, defence, rail industry, and education, covering health and safety, business, project and individual needs.