If you go to Google and enter "risk management" in the dialogue box, you will get more than 100,000,000 hits in less than one-quarter of a second. According to Wikipedia, risk management is "…the process of measuring or assessing risk and developing strategies to manage it. Strategies include transferring the risk to another party, avoiding the risk, reducing the negative effect of the risk, and accepting some or all of the consequences of a particular risk…"

This traditional concept of a broad-based definition of risk management can apply to physical causes (natural disasters), legal causes (lawsuits), and financial causes (fluctuations in stock values). Ideally, a prioritization process is followed whereby the risks with the greatest loss and the greatest probability of occurring are handled first, and risks with lower probability of occurrence and lower loss are handled later. This can be a challenging and difficult process, regardless of the situation and circumstances at hand.

What is it that structural engineers should focus on when thinking about risk management? What is the goal of undertaking risk management activities, and what should we expect as outcomes? Following are a few thoughts:

The goal—The goal for structural engineering risk management should be the identification of those day-to-day, project-related practices that can be improved relative to reducing our professional practice risk, particularly as they relate to claims and/or lawsuits. Once those day-to-day practices are identified, then appropriate action can be taken for achieving the desired improvement.

This seems simple enough, and probably will not generate much argument or disagreement. Let’s move on.

The context—The context for undertaking risk management activities should be within the general topic of professional practice improvement. Professional practice improvement is the ongoing commitment of the practicing professional to undertake regular continuing education and training activities, and to continuously improve throughout one’s career.

Every project provides the practicing structural engineer with the opportunity to apply those hard-earned, and often expensive, lessons to the benefit of his or her client, and to the benefit of the project at hand. This is why we call it a professional "practice;" we practice our profession in order to continuously improve, and get better at what we do, and the process never ends. I would suggest that professional practice improvement is more than a nice concept; it is a professional obligation that we all have as structural engineers.

Hence, if the overall goal of our professional practice activities is to continuously improve and get better at what we do, then practicing risk management techniques is just another aspect of that ongoing process of professional practice improvement. Practicing risk management techniques and increasing our joint awareness in that regard should be viewed as a normal and integral part of our ongoing obligations and responsibilities as professional structural engineers.

This is an important point to make, and should be considered in contrast with a more traditionally identified context for undertaking risk management activities: to save money (or to make more money). If the focus of undertaking risk management activities is financial, particularly in the short term, it likely can lead to dysfunctional behavior, which actually is counter-productive relative to our clients and our projects. It is likely that those structural engineers who are appropriately focused on risk management activities within the larger context of professional practice improvement will, in fact, save money in the long term, via reduced legal expenses, reduced time spent dealing with claims and/or lawsuits, and perhaps even from reduced professional liability insurance premiums. But it is important to view these financial benefits as outcomes, and not as goals of the risk management process.

A similar contrast should be made with another traditionally identified context for undertaking risk management activities: risk avoidance (or transfer of risk). While we as structural engineers certainly have our fair share of risk to deal with, the objective of undertaking risk management activities should not be to run away from that risk, or to attempt to push it onto other participants in the design and construction process. Understanding where our particular risks lie, and dealing with them in a constructive, proactive, and professional way is the appropriate approach to risk management. Defensive, uncooperative, and generally negative behavior will inevitably defeat the very purpose of undertaking risk management practices, and result in the very thing that such behavior attempts to avoid—increased risk. The context of always looking for ways to do a better job for our clients and our projects will almost always result in long-term positive outcomes for everyone involved in the design and construction process, and will certainly provide for the proper context for undertaking risk management activities.

The Risk Management Program (RMP) of the Council of American Structural Engineers has some specific suggestions with regard to the implementation of risk management strategies. The "10 Foundations of Risk Management" can provide a very positive starting point in the process of incorporating risk management in the day-to-day professional practice activities of structural engineers. If the "10 Foundations of Risk Management" are viewed in the context of doing the right thing for our clients and our projects, with a focus on the ongoing process of professional practice improvement, the result will likely be happier clients and staff, more successful projects, and improved financial performance. I am sure we can all agree that these are desirable outcomes for everyone involved in the design and construction process.

The Risk Management Program (RMP) is organized as a program of the American Council of Engineering Companies (ACEC) Coalition of American Structural Engineers (CASE). The group’s mission is to enhance risk management, loss prevention, and claims management techniques of the structural engineering profession. To learn more, visit www.acec.org/RMP.

Jefferson W. Asher, S.E., is a member of the RMP Steering Committee, as well as president of KPFF Consulting Engineers. He can be reached at jasher@kpff-la.com.