Aud Solveig Nilsen
Abstract
Risk management and governance- a more procedural view.
Stavanger municipality started in 2010 preliminary work with how to introduce risk management (governance) as an overall system. Since this is a new way of working with preparedness in Norway, I was interested in how this process was introduced. The timeframe for introducing risk management, as a system was original set to 2013, but the intention is rather to have a proper system than to rush the introduction. Because of delays, the plan is to be able to start in 2014.
Process for introducing risk management as a system in Stavanger municipality.
In December 2010 the chief administrative officer, her leader group and the emergency management staff had a meeting with Professor Terje Aven from the University of Stavanger.
He was invited to talk about risk and risk management. This was a starting point for how to lay the foundations of a system for risk management in Stavanger municipality.
Thereafter a stepwise plan for competence building was made.
A 2 hours course was made and enters into an obligatory HES in house training, for leaders in the different activities in the municipalities. This pre course is a brief introduction to risk and vulnerability analysis(Rav).
Proactima(footnote) together with the emergency department has further developed a 3 steps education package.
Step 1. This is a formal basic course in Rav. It consists of a circa 7 hour e-learning package.
That is the theoretical package. In addition, a full day course with practical examples are presented and in 2012, it was 70 participants joining step 1. It is supposed to be a yearly event.
Step 2. This is a course in University of Stavangers auspices and gives 10 study points (ects).
The course is a part of an experience based master education (footnote). Still Proactima supplies the municipal students with supervision. The students make project papers related to their own experience. For instance the health workers makes a Rav for the health department, and the employees in technical department, makes a Rav for instance water and sewage challenges. In the study different kinds of business is presented. Like the rescue services, inter municipal enterprises like electrical suppliers (Lyse) and water suppliers (Ivar). The intention with connection to external partners is that the employees can extend their knowledge and contacts. In 2013 there were 7 students from Stavanger municipality.
Step 3. This step was meant to be a course in risk management in 2013, but was delayed. The plan is to start this step in 2014.
The main challenges connected to a system of risk management
Reflections about obstacles about introducing risk management as a system.
In 2011 the emergency leader in Stavanger saw a need for strengthening the competence in Rav as a way to facilitate for risk management. The stepwise courses were made to meet challenges in lack of competence.
The template (guide) from DSB does not fit in the biggest towns. It is not a problem to fulfil the demands in the guide and the new law (sbl), but the problem is how useful this is if a complex situations should arise (Emergency leader Stavanger). To meet this challenge “a big town” forum is created, were Oslo, Bergen, Trondheim and Tromsø participates and share knowledge.
When a crisis of a big dimension arise, there is often need for external resources to be able to fulfil emergency duties. The emergency leader in Stavanger criticise the new law (sbl)
because only the municipalities have demands in an overall Rav respect. The challenge here is for instance when it comes to emergency exercises. He asks for why the critical infrastructure and main transport agencies an others, does not have the same claim. The municipal has demands to perform emergency exercises, but that does not help if the external partner does not have the same claim. Step 2 in the education plan consider this and includes external actors to be able to make contact before a crisis enters.
Before we can start with risk management, it is essential to have a systematisation and structure as a foundation for risk management. Single risk analysis is only a part of a bigger picture that is named risk management.
(Emergency leader)
This abstract will be further developed and theory about risk management/governance will be connected to the empirical findings together with a discussion about development of a more procedural risk management system.
