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HB 327:2010

Communicating and
consulting about risk

HB

HB 327:2010

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Communicating and consulting about risk

First published as HB 327:2010.

Copyright 2009 Standards Australia Limited.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or copied in any form or by any means,
electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, without the written permission of the publisher.
Published by Standards Australia Limited, GPO Box 476, Sydney, NSW 2001, Australia
ISBN 978 0 7337 9346 2

PREFACE
This guide was prepared by a Joint Standards Australia/Standards New
Zealand Task Group, with guidance from Committee OB/007, Risk
Management.

The principal editors and contributors were:

Adrian Sparrow (Chair)
Dale Cooper
Roger Estall
Janet Gough

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Loata Stewart

The contribution of the following individuals is gratefully acknowledged:

Geraint Bermingham
Neil Britten
Pamela Finger
Carl Gibson
Kevin Knight
Grant Purdy
Neil Porter
Brian Small
Paul Stannard
Michael Tarrant
Grant Whitehorn

The authors appreciate that communication and consultation in risk

management is a fast developing area of expertise and would welcome
comments and suggestions for the next edition of this Handbook.

HB 327:2010
Communicating and consulting about risk

CONTENTS
Page

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PART 1:

WHY DO IT? ........................................................................................................... 5

Communicating and consultingThe process ............................................................. 5

1.1 A key risk management tool................................................................................. 5
1.2 Communication as a process .............................................................................. 5
1.3 Consultation as a process.................................................................................... 7
1.4 Allowing for communication and consultation in the risk management
framework............................................................................................................ 7
1.5 Benefits from communication and consultation.................................................... 7
1.6 It takes two to tango ............................................................................................ 8
1.7 Medium................................................................................................................ 8
1.8 Identifying stakeholders........................................................................................ 8
1.9 Engagement ........................................................................................................ 9
1.10 Power ................................................................................................................ 10

Perception .................................................................................................................. 11
2.1 What are risk perceptions? ................................................................................ 11
2.2 How rules of thumb affect perceptions............................................................ 12
2.3 Lay and specialist perceptions ........................................................................... 13
2.4 Tolerable risk and acceptable risk................................................................. 14

Uncertainty ................................................................................................................. 15
3.1 Risk and uncertainty .......................................................................................... 15
3.2 Measurement uncertainty................................................................................... 16
3.3 The Precautionary Principle................................................................................ 16
3.4 Communicating uncertainties............................................................................. 17

PART 2:

HOW TO DO IT ...................................................................................................... 18

Introduction ................................................................................................................ 18

Managing communication and consultation................................................................ 20

2.1 Participation ....................................................................................................... 20
2.2 Participation of senior management ................................................................... 21
2.3 Engagement and participation of staff................................................................ 21

Supporting the risk management process .................................................................. 22

3.1 Establishing the context ..................................................................................... 22
3.2 Identifying risks .................................................................................................. 23
3.3 Analysing risks ................................................................................................... 23
3.4 Evaluating risks .................................................................................................. 23
3.5 Treating risks ..................................................................................................... 24
3.6 Monitoring and review........................................................................................ 24

Case studies............................................................................................................... 24
4.1 Oil spill ............................................................................................................... 24
4.2 Foot and mouth disease .................................................................................... 26
4.3 Deaths from fire ................................................................................................. 26
4.4 Traffic congestion .............................................................................................. 27

HB 327:2010
Communicating and consulting about risk

INTRODUCTION
This Handbook is a companion to the Australia/New Zealand Risk
1
Management Standard (AS/NZS ISO 31000:2009)
and the Risk
2
Management Guidelines (HB 436:2004) . It uses academic research and
practical experience to flesh out the Communicate and Consult part of the
risk management process. It was written to help people who manage risk.
Risk management takes place in a social context. This means that
information needs to be shared by people who are affected differently by a
set of risks, who know different things about those risks, and who have
different views about them

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Communication and consultation are continual and iterative processes that

an organization conducts to provide, share or obtain information and to
engage in dialogue with stakeholders regarding the management of risk.
The information can relate to the existence, nature, form, likelihood,
significance, evaluation, acceptability and treatment of the risk.
Consultation is a two-way process of informed communication between an
organization and its stakeholders on an issue prior to making a decision or
determining a direction on that issue. Consultation is a process which
impacts on a decision through influence rather than power and is a n input to
decision making, but not joint decision making.
Communication and consultation should facilitate truthful, relevant,
accurate and understandable exchanges of information, taking into account
confidential and personal integrity aspects.
This Handbook explains why communication and consultation are essential
for good risk management and provides advice as to how to do this
effectively. The concepts are consistent with each of the 11 principles of
effective risk management described in Section 3 of AS/NZS ISO
31000:2009 including the first principle which is that risk management
creates and protects value.
The Handbook also shows how to take account of the mix of facts,
uncertainties, perceptions, complexities, beliefs and values when taking
decisions about risk.
AUDIENCE
This guide is intended to help individuals, organisations and specialists to
understand the role and techniques of communication and consultation
when managing risk -, especially when using the generic risk management
process set out in AS/NZS ISO 31000:2009.
USING THE GUIDE
This Handbook is designed as an owners handbook rather than a
workshop manual. It gives basic guidance for understanding and
operating relevant aspects of communicating and consulting about risks. It
is not an exhaustive compendium of the subjects, nor is it a report on
academic research.
1
AS/NZS ISO 31000:2009 , Risk Management Principles and Guidelines. Standards Australia and Standards New
Zealand, , ISBN ISBN 0 7337 9289 8.
2
HB 436:2004, Risk Management GuidelinesCompanion to AS/NZS 4360:2004. Standards Australia and
Standards New Zealand, ISBN 0 7337 5960 2.[Under review]

HB 327:2010
Communicating and consulting about risk

PART 1: WHY DO IT?

1 Communicating and consulting
The process
1.1

A key risk management tool

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Those responsible for assessing risks, or choosing or implementing risk

treatments, need to involve other people

to access knowledge;

to fulfil obligations of transparency (for example, public bodies are

generally expected to act in a transparent way; staff who are involved
in decisions that affect them tend to perform better); or

to explain what is required of others involved in implementation.

1.2

Communication as a process

Effective communication has three elements. The messages must be put into
a form that enables them to be transmitted. Secondly, the communication
process should transmit the messages, and thirdly, the messages should be
able to be restored, i.e. received in a form that is consistent with that
transmitted, and comprehensible to the receiver. Distortions that interfere
with this process can cause errors in what the receivers understand from the
message. Stakeholders are likely to make judgments about risk based on
their perceptions, which if left uninformed or unacknowledged can have a
significant impact on the management of risk.
The message itself is less important than how the message is interpreted,
because people will react to what they understand from a message. This
means that, when a party wants to send messages to others, the sender
should take account of the

audience attributes;

audience engagement;

audience participation;

characteristics of the medium being used;

perceptions and values of the individual parties involved; and

information quality.

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HB 327:2010, Communicating and consulting

about risk (Companion to AS/NZS ISO 31000:2009)

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