4.5 Evaluate own practice in leading a balanced approach to risk management.

For this assessment criterion, you will be required to evaluate your own practice in leading a balanced approach to risk management.

A balanced approach to risk involves ensuring that employees and individuals are able to perform their work and make decisions about their lives in the safest way possible. This means assessing risk and putting measures in place to reduce the risk or eliminate it entirely.

When carrying out personal risk assessments for individuals, it is important that they are able to participate in the process and be given the information they need to make an informed choice. Risk does not always need to be eliminated and should be balanced against the potential benefits that could be gained from taking a risk.

For example, it may be deemed unsafe for a young adult with a learning disability to catch the bus to college on their own, but it is important to balance this against the positive aspects, such as the individual learning a new skill, becoming more independent and the boost that it will have on their self-esteem, confidence and wellbeing. Therefore, staff, co-workers and others (such as the individual’s family) should collaborate on ways that the individual could be supported to use public transport if that is their wish.

You should reflect on your own attitude towards risk – do you generally like to take risks or are you risk-averse? And then consider if your own attitude towards risk influences the way that you manage risk in a work setting. Do you think that your approach is balanced? If not, what could you change to ensure that you take a more balanced approach?