To some extent, running a successful company comes down to evaluating risks properly.
That’s probably why there are several types of risk assessments that businesses can perform. One type that can often get overlooked is an operational risk assessment, which aims to identify things that could go wrong on a daily basis during normal business operations. Of course, not every business has an operational risk assessment template or even attempts to perform this type of assessment regularly. To show why that’s a mistake, let’s look at some of the positives of performing an operational risk assessment in any workplace.
Perhaps the biggest benefit of an operational risk assessment is the ability to cut down on the number of errors being made. This type of assessment can tell you a lot about your current guidelines and practices, showing ways to improve normal operations. Your business will be able to identify things that you’re doing wrong or just ways that things can be done more efficiently. In other words, it’s an opportunity to detect errors and resolve problems you may not have known about previously.
Naturally, an operational risk assessment is an excellent way to reduce the daily risk of operations being disrupted and reduce the chances of something happening that slows down productivity or shuts down everything altogether. Keep in mind that the overall goal of an operational risk assessment is to detect risk and then reduce it as much as possible. Of course, you can’t do anything to reduce risk if you’re not aware of it or understand it, which is one of the top benefits of this type of assessment.
In the aftermath of an operational risk assessment, many companies try to adopt new standards for their daily operations. These new standards can be related to how resources are used or how certain processes are performed and streamlined. There might be ways to eliminate redundancy and waste while improving agility. The bottom line is that if daily operations can be improved with an operational risk assessment, it’s foolish not to perform one.
Assessing your operational risks can also help to lead to better decision-making. Improving day-to-day operations isn’t just about the steps that employees are taking. Those in leadership positions can also learn about how they can improve their job performance by making better decisions or streamlining the manner in which decisions are made. It can be hard to discover where these improvements can be made without performing a deep assessment of daily operations.
It’s far too easy for compliance issues to be completely overlooked. It’s often during large-scale assessments that they come to the forefront. If there is even a hint of the company doing something illegal, unethical, or skirting regulatory compliance standards, it can be discovered during an operational risk assessment. It’s always better to uncover these issues sooner rather than later so that it’s an internal assessment that’s discovering them rather than a regulatory agency that could levy a punishment. If there is even a hint of a compliance issue, it can be identified and corrected thanks to an operational risk assessment, which will surely be what’s best for the company in the long run.
Last but not least, an operations risk assessment can provide some insight into potential safety concerns. As with anything else, identifying and correcting safety lapses as soon as possible is the mark of a successful business. That’s why the software solutions from EHS Insight can be such a helpful tool. We have created a system that monitors all aspects of workplace safety, including training, compliance, and communication. With everyone on one platform, nothing related to safety will be overlooked, leading to the safest environment possible.
If your business values a safe workplace for your employees, give us a call so we can talk about how our software can help you create the safest work environment possible.