102-Safety Fundamentals Flashcards
Risk Management
-Force preservation does not have a single solution. However, every effort should be made to prevent a situation that will degrade mission capability rather than planning to deal with the situation after it occurs.
-Risk mitigation is central to the idea of readiness and must not be an afterthought in actions during combat, in training, and in garrison.
-RM is one of the best means available to eliminate senseless and needless loss of life, injury, and materiel damage.
-Active participation of every Marine in the RM process of identifying, assessing, and controlling risks arising from factors experienced on a daily basis such as uncertainty, ambiguity, and change will allow for informed decisions.
-This process is one in a range of tools to be used by personnel at all levels for minimizing risk to an acceptable level commensurate with completing the task at hand or accomplishing the mission.
Inherent Risk
-Risk is inherent in every phase of tasking, missions, and operations due to today’s complex and dynamic environment.
-As hazards and risk are present both on and off duty, it is incumbent upon all Marines, both military and civilian, to understand how to assess and manage risk to achieve mission success and preserve combat readiness.
RM enhances readiness by:
-Enhancing task or mission accomplishment by increasing the probability of success.
-Minimizing risk to acceptable levels commensurate with the benefit or value of mission or task accomplishment while providing a method to effectively manage resources.
-Enhancing decision-making skills based on a systematic, reasoned, and repeatable process.
-Providing a systematic structure to perform risk assessments.
-Providing improved confidence for individuals to make informed risk decisions.
-Adequate risk analysis provides a clearer picture of the hazards and of unit capabilities.
-Preserving personnel and materiel by avoiding unnecessary risk, thus reducing mishaps and their associated costs.
-Providing an adaptive process for the continuous feedback through the planning, preparation, and execution phases of any evolution.
-Identifying feasible and effective control measures, particularly where specific standards do not exist.
RM does not:
-Inhibit flexibility, initiative, or accountability.
-Remove risk altogether or support a “zero defect” mindset.
-Remove the necessity for practice, drills, rehearsals, and tactics, techniques, and procedures.
-Sanction or justify violating orders or the law.
Accept Risk When Benefits Outweigh the Cost
-Our Marine Corps tradition is built upon principles of seizing the initiative and taking decisive action.
-The goal of RM is not to eliminate risk, but to manage the risk so the mission can be accomplished with the minimum amount of loss.
-The process of weighing risks against the benefits and value of the task or mission helps maximize success.
-Balancing costs and benefits is a subjective process.
-Therefore, personnel with knowledge and experience of the mission or task must be engaged when making risk decisions.
Accept No Unnecessary Risk
-An unnecessary risk is any risk that, if taken, will not contribute meaningfully to task or mission accomplishment or will needlessly jeopardize personnel or materiel.
-Risk is managed through relentless training, awareness of the risk being confronted, and a clear-eyed understanding of the mission at hand.
-Training and the confidence derived from it will directly result in increased performance and a better control of those risks that are an inescapable part of daily existence.
-The acceptance of risk does not equate to the imprudent willingness to gamble.
-Additionally, if all detectable hazards have not been identified then unnecessary risks are being accepted.
-The RM process, in conjunction with sound safety principles, identifies hazards that might otherwise go unidentified and provides tools to reduce or offset risk.
-End state: take only risks that are necessary to accomplish the task, activity, or mission.
Anticipate and Manage Risk by Planning
-Integrating RM into planning at all levels, and as early as possible, provides the greatest opportunity to make well-informed risk decisions and to implement effective risk controls.
-This engaged approach enhances the overall effectiveness of RM by reducing mishaps, injuries, and costs.
-Hazards and controls that have been identified during reconnaissance and preplanning should be in the operations order.
Make Risk Decisions at the Right Level
-RM decisions are made by the leader directly responsible for the operation.
-While anyone can make a risk decision, the appropriate decision level should reside whereby the leader can make decisions to accept, eliminate, or reduce the risk.
-Prudence, experience, judgment, intuition, and situational awareness of leaders directly involved in the planning and execution of the mission are the critical elements in making effective RM decisions.
-When leaders responsible for executing a mission determine that the risk associated with that mission cannot be controlled at their level, or goes beyond the commander’s stated intent, the risk decision shall be elevated within their chain of command to the first staff noncommissioned officer or officer within the unit.
-If unable to mitigate the risk at the unit level, the risk decision shall be elevated to the next commander in the chain of command.
3 levels of RM
In-depth level, deliberate level, Time Critical
in-depth level
Refers to situations when available time for planning is not a limiting factor
-involves a very thorough risk assessment.
deliberate level
Refers to situations when there is ample time to apply the RM process to the mission planning evolution.
Time Critical
-This is the level at which personnel operate on a daily basis both on and off duty.
-The time critical level is the normal RM level used during the execution phase of training or operations as well as in planning during crisis response scenarios.
-At this level, there is little or no time to make a plan resulting in an “on the spot” mental or verbal review of the situation.
Five step process for RM
Step 1-Identify Hazards.
A hazard is any condition with the potential to negatively impact the task or mission.
-Hazards can also cause property damage, injury to personnel, or death
Step 2-Assess Hazards.
For each hazard identified, determine the associated degree of risk in terms of probability and severity.
Step 3-Make Risk Decisions.
Step 3 is accomplished in two sub steps in order to make informed risk decisions:
- Identifying and assessing risk control options
- Ultimately making risk decisions
-Reject the risk
-Avoid the risk
-Delay an Action
-Transfer the risk
-Compensate for the risk
