The initiative by Britain's three leading risk management bodies to define a new internationally recognised British standard for the practice of risk management is now well underway. AIRMIC, ALARM, and IRM commissioned a project team to produce the definitive parameters and standards for risk management. Leading the team is David Ovenden, former head of insurance and risk management for P&O, an Associate of the Chartered Insurance Institute, Fellow of the IRM and a former AIRMIC chairman (1987/88).
The initiative aims to review and revise existing standards and produce new criteria for the evolving role of risk management. The team is now nearing the end of a six-monthly preparatory period before publishing its proposals for consultation.
When the new RM standards are established, they will be offered for adoption within the evolving risk community. After they have been in operation for about a year, they will be submitted to the British Standards Institute for its official ratification, prior to a similar submission to the International Standards Organisation (ISO) for worldwide recognition.
Terry Simister, IRM chairman and overseeing chairman of the project, said: "The management of risk has evolved in recent years and there has been a call for a fresh look at the essential requirements, codes of practice, and levels of competence required for this demanding discipline. The work being undertaken may well act as a seminal guide for other risk management practitioners in the world."
