Risky Business

Risk management is a vital decision-making tool in modern industry and commerce. Since virtually every decision involves some element of uncertainty, and because there are risks inherent in most of the key issues facing companies today, the ability to understand risks and manage them effectively is an important ingredient for success. This is particularly true when assessing complex and large scale decisions where considerable capital is involved.

In such cases, risk-based approaches have been shown to be highly effective because they enable decision makers to make informed management choices based on structured information and analysis and to demonstrate the basis of their decisions.

MEI’s inaugural conference Risk-Based Approaches to Major Decisions ’11, organised in association with RMRI, will be held in the beautiful Cornish town of Falmouth in May 2011 and will look at areas in the construction, management and operation of large scale assets where adopting a risk-based approach to decision-making offers advantages in terms of both reduced risks and commercial benefit. Novel areas of application will be discussed and innovative techniques that are demonstrably cost effective will be introduced.

Examples of areas to be covered include:

Capital investment decisions and project evaluation
Project management
Inspection, testing and maintenance

Anyone with responsibility for design, construction and operation of large scale plant in industries such as mining, oil and gas and petrochemical will benefit from attendance.

Two other MEI conferences immediately precede Risk ’11, at the same venue. Sustainability through Resource Conservation and Recycling ’11 will be followed by Climate Change and the Minerals Industry ’11. An interesting week in a great setting.