Leading Gulf risk manager calls for rethink on ISO 31000 certification

Kenneth McKeown, Director Enterprise Risk Management (Acting) at Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (DEWA), the state owned utility, and also head of the local Institute of Risk Management (IRM) chapter, told Commercial Risk Europe yesterday that the global risk community had been unable to fully capitalise on the introduction of ISO 31000 because it has been kept as an informal guideline. Mr McKeown has organised a conference on enterprise risk management for the local risk community in Dubai next Thursday for which Commercial Risk Europe is a partner. CRE Editor Adrian Ladbury is hosting the main panel debate on the role and development of the risk manager in the region as part of our Global Risk Frontiers survey. Risk certification, education and ISO 31000 will form a central part of the discussion.hideAhead of the event, Mr McKeown told CRE that risk management has certainly risen up the corporate agenda in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries and around the world in recent times. He said that business leaders in the GCC increasingly understand the value that enterprise risk management can bring to a business. But the role's development is by no means complete. Mr McKeown conceded that risk managers, who usually operate on limited budgets and with small teams, have a big job on their hands to spread the risk message across their organisations and win buy-in at operational and boardroom level. The positive news is that the opportunity for risk managers to finally step up to the plate and become core to business planning and decision-making is bigger now than ever before, said the Scotsman. But, if it had been decided that ISO 31000 was mandatory in some form rather than the guideline it became risk managers may well have made make better progress, said the risk manager. "My view is that there was real excitement about ISO 31000 in the industry a few years ago and that has not been capitalised upon. Other departments recognise without question the significance of the ISO standards 'brand', for example in health and safety and IT they don't question it. But without proper certification it [risk management] becomes 'broadly aligned' with ISO, which is not as powerful," said Mr McKeown. "I would like to see us take the next step and clearly say this is what best practice looks like. This would happen if it were certified. We are currently in a bit of a vacuum, into which a sub-industry seems to be forming. A number of organisations are offering training and services linked to 31000, some of it is good and some not so good in my view. But is it formally accredited? If it is not then there is always the danger that companies will use the guidance to help build a risk management system, put the procedures in place in the short term then put the manual on the shelf," he said. There are limited spaces for the Developments In Enterprise Risk Management conference being held by DEWA in partnership with the IRM. It takes place on 22 May at Atlantis, The Palm in Dubai. To register for one of the places allocated to CRE readership go to http://www.dewa.gov.ae/ermconference.

Leading Gulf risk manager calls for rethink on ISO 31000 certification

Want to read this article?

Read Next

Amrae re-elects Wild as president and names new board members

Brazilian states return to court to double dam collapse compensation to $19.5bn

London Market increases contribution to UK economy

New management liability product from RSA Insurance

P&I group Skuld announces $10m members’ credit after 297% profit increase

Amrae re-elects Wild as president and names new board members

Brazilian states return to court to double dam collapse compensation to $19.5bn

London Market increases contribution to UK economy

New management liability product from RSA Insurance

P&I group Skuld announces $10m members’ credit after 297% profit increase

Want to read this article?

Read Next

Amrae re-elects Wild as president and names new board members

Brazilian states return to court to double dam collapse compensation to $19.5bn

London Market increases contribution to UK economy

New management liability product from RSA Insurance

P&I group Skuld announces $10m members’ credit after 297% profit increase

Related Articles