Things to know about Risk Management for Quality Management System

Posted by Charles Wilson on August 1st, 2022

Risk management and quality management go together. In fact, businesses addressing their risks in every probable way are most capable at accomplishing quality excellence. Risk-based thinking is also made an important part of the Quality Management System. Risk-based thinking allows a business to determine which factors can reason their procedures to diverge from the probable results. As a result, they can put effective preventive actions in place to area off the risks. It is significant to integrate the main concepts of risk and quality management together in QMS. But, before that, need to understand why to mix risk management in quality management.

Why Risk Management is Important in a Quality Management System?

Risk-based thinking has been constantly contained in businesses. It is just that the concept is more broadened and was explicitly involved in business procedures after the international quality management standard ISO 9001 involved it as one of the basic principles. Unnecessary, it positively impacts the organizations by making them more accomplished of managing risks, maintaining continuity of their operations, and constancy in their quality of output.

• Integrating risk-based thinking in business confirms that risks are measured throughout processes, from start to end.
• Accepting the risk-based method in quality management strategy makes proactive in managing risks rather than reactive. It helps to implement practices for measuring risks preventing or modifying them rather than recovering from them.
• A risk-based method allows to handle risks in a positive way even though they have a negative consequence. It helps to identify opportunities in business, i.e., which procedures need to be improved or changed to decrease risks as much as possible. In short, risk management promotes a culture of constant improvement in business and drives towards excellence.

Risk Management Procedure:

To combine risk management in QMS, first understand its essential concepts and processes. These are in fact the components that make up a holistic risk management method for organizations.

Risk identification: The first step of risk management is always classifying what the risks to organization and QMS procedures. Need to anticipate procedures and their outcomes to make a list of potential risks. The best ways to forecast risks in procedures are looking at the analysis of previous records, collecting informed opinions, and considering the concerns of the stakeholders.

Analysis of risks: Following the identification of probable risks, need to analyze them to learn their impacts on the business. Analysis of risk includes understanding the likelihood of its existence, influences on business objectives or quality goals, and when it could occur or what would reason it to happen. Risk analysis is the basis of risk management as it helps to control the measures needed to stop them.

Risk control: Based on the analysis report, need to choose whether to remove, decrease, or accept the risk. Risk control is chiefly about decreasing the risk or its consequences to an acceptable level when the risk cannot be eliminated. For proper risk control, have a better grip on the cost-benefit analysis. Need to find the proper opportunities or benefits that business gets in return of applying measures for risk reduction.

Risk evaluation: Every uncertainty in the business is recognized as a strong risk after it achieves certain criteria. Evaluation of risk is the procedure of comparison an identified potential risk against the criteria. The assessment is based on accessibility of the information for a few elementary questions like what will occur as it emerges, what are chances it will ensue, what are the significances, and what is the severity of the risk.

Risk reduction: Decrease of risk includes deciding practices for improving or preventing the risk if it is found to be non-acceptable to the business. The practices should be meant to decrease the severity and harmful consequences of the risk as much as possible. Risk reduction also means improving the ability of risk identification approaches to quicker detect the hazards.

Risk acceptance: A risk is accepted and alternate measures are undertaken to minimize it when either there are no effective controls found or the risk is found to be less severe. Also, a risk needs to be accepted when it is an enduring risk, a risk that is still prevalent after all the protective actions. Most businesses admit risks by getting appropriate insurance or transferring the risks to a third party.

Risk communication: The last but very important concept of risk management is communication. The risks and any information connected to them should be communicated by the decision-makers to the employees of the organization at all levels. They should be informed as well as instructed on how to react or respond to a suitable risk. However, most significantly, the decision-makers should make the employees a part of their risk management procedure and encourage them to deliver opinions or views for addressing any risks.

To gain knowledge of the QMS and ISO requirements to implement the procedure of risk management in the quality management systems. The Risk Implementer Training can be very useful for those who want to identify, assess, evaluate and treat risks or accept risks within their management systems.