Have you enjoyed your year as chairman of AIRMIC?
NICK CHOWN: I certainly have - it's been a good year! At the beginning, when I was also starting a new role at the Metropolitan Police which represented not just a change in job but setting up a new function from scratch, I had to ask myself whether it was possible to do justice to both of these. I decided it was.
What do you regard as the highlights?
NICK CHOWN: There are a number including AIRMIC's fire minimisation guidance for the food industry being accepted as an insurance standard, the formation of the new D&O task force and the asbestos group, and our joint campaign with the CBI to promote workplace rehabilitation.
I think that one of the most important developments, not just for AIRMIC but for risk management generally, is the increase in standards, for example COSO in the US and the Institute of Risk Management South Africa's draft code of practice for enterprise risk management. AIRMIC also gave its support to the new business continuity standard, PAS 56, drawn up by the British Standards Institution and Business Continuity Institute. We can't take the credit for producing this but AIRMIC can take credit for coming out fairly and squarely in support of it - it's an important development in risk management.
The AIRMIC/ALARM/IRM risk management standard has now been translated into 14 different languages so it's becoming really international. Even though it was introduced fairly recently, the three organisations are now reviewing this to ensure that it keeps to the forefront of development in the light of standards elsewhere. We want to make sure that this standard remains best practice for our members.
Another highlight of the year has been establishing formal meetings with the chairmen and chief executives of the three UK risk management organisations, AIRMIC, ALARM and IRM. We have always worked closely together but now we are sitting down on a quarterly basis with a detailed agenda looking at things like education. That is a big step forward, and I would like to see these three organisations working even more closely together. The UK risk management world is fragmented and does not speak with a common voice which means that it is not as powerful as it could be. When something occurs to which all three organisations respond in the same way, it would be good to send out a message from the risk management community as a whole. We are thinking about how to resolve that.
Do you plan to continue working within AIRMIC?
NICK CHOWN: I will continue to have a role but I think it's important to encourage new younger members to play an active part. I have been on the council for a fairly long time and it is probably nearing the time when I should consider whether other people with newer ideas ought to take over.
As I am working in the public sector, ALARM is also very relevant. And as well as my continuing involvement in AIRMIC and ALARM, I shall be working with the Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO), looking at developing standards in risk management in a policing context across the country. That ties in very closely with my theme for this year - setting new standards.
What do you think are the key benefits that members will get from attending this year's conference?
NICK CHOWN: I think the opportunity to learn about the latest situation regarding FSA regulation and risk managers is a major benefit. We all know that regulation would be a complete and utter nonsense and it is surely not in the public interest that risk managers be regulated. No other European country has put their risk managers in this position which leaves UK plc potentially at a commercial disadvantage against organisations from other countries. For many members the debate at the end of the conference on FSA regulations will be absolutely crucial.
There are also the networking opportunities and the opportunity to learn from a really good programme of events. The conference workshops are very well supported, showing that members see the subjects as very relevant.
How would you like to see AIRMIC and risk management generally develop in the future?
NICK CHOWN: As far as AIRMIC is concerned, I would like to see a continuing and increasing focus on business risk but without losing sight of the fact that our core business is insurance and so we must serve our insurance manager members. I would like to see AIRMIC regarded as an increasingly big player around business risk, becoming an organisation that people think of immediately when there is a business risk issue and they need some answers.
Acquiring the necessary skills is also important for risk management development. Those members working within the broad area of business risks need a wider toolset than those who are insurance managers. They need to be able to operate at higher levels within the organisation and to communicate from top to bottom. Most importantly, they need a thorough understanding of the organisation that they work for.
I wish AIRMIC's in-coming chairman Andrew Cornish every success. I know that with Andy and executive director David Gamble, AIRMIC will be in very good hands. I am most supportive of Andy's partnership theme. This is entirely consistent with my view that we need increasingly to be working together with ALARM and the IRM and thinking in terms of how we might project a common voice from the three organisations.
You must have found it quite difficult to balance your role as AIRMIC chairman with your new and demanding job at the Met. Can you explain a little about what that job entails?
NICK CHOWN: It was setting up a corporate risk management function from scratch. There were already teams dealing with business continuity management, quality management and what we call inspection and audit co-ordination.
But these three teams were separate, working in different parts of the Metropolitan Police. I needed to integrate them into one team and to convert them into a centre for excellence for embedding risk management in areas where that is required. We have some really good risk management in many areas so it's been a matter of identifying those which perhaps we need to improve. It is around setting the framework for business risk management within the Metropolitan Police.
What are you going to do with all your spare time when you're no longer chairing AIRMIC?
NICK CHOWN: The tasks extend to fill the time you have available to you! I don't imagine I will have too much spare time. As you establish your function within an organisation, increasingly people see that you are adding value and demands on your time grow - which is a good sign. I think that any spare time will be taken up with the possibility of developing national standards for risk management in the policing context of ACPO.
