8605-403 Managing Risk in the Workplace

Unit Overview

8605-403 Managing Risk in the Workplace is a unit within the ILM Kevel 4 Module that focuses on ensuring that the managers are able to identify and address potential risk stat could affect the ability of the organisation to achieve its goals or objectives or threaten the wellbeing of its human stakeholders. Managers have a responsibility to ensure that they create a safe and conducive environment within which their stakeholders can operate.

This aspect is two-dimensional as they should scan the organisation to endure that they identify internal risks, such as conflicts that could compromise productivity and well-being, as well as the external environment to identify industry-level risks that may necessitate adaptation from the organisation and its stakeholders in ensuring that organisational goals and objectives are achieved.This unit prepares the learners to put in place effective strategies and measures that are designed to achieve the intended goals and objectives without compromising the well-being of the employees.

8605-403 Managing Risk in the Workplace as a unit mainly has the purpose and aim of ensuring that the awareness and ability of the middle-level managers to potential risks in the workplace context is developed hence ensuring they are able to create an environment supporting organisational goals and objectives. This unit is taught in 6 hours of guided learning and contributes 3 credit values to the completion of the ILM Level 4 Module.

Suitability of the Unit

All stakeholders within the organisation should be in a position to identify and assess risks to ensure that the impacts of the risks on the organisation and the people are eliminated. However, managers have a bigger responsibility to ensure that these risks that could affect followers or other employees are addressed within the organisation. 8605-403 Managing Risk in the Workplace is a unit therefore designed to serve the learning needs of the managers by improving their knowledge and understanding of the techniques that they can use to assess and mitigate risks.

The unit is designed to meet the learning needs of middle-level managers, such as departmental heads within the organisation or regional managers who have to oversee a larger area of responsibility within the organisation. However, it is not limited to these managers; the content presented within the unit is highly versatile and can be used by other leaders, including the top-level managers and the junior managers, to ensure they are able to influence their levels and areas of responsibility by creating safe, healthy and enabling work environments.

The employees can also pursue the course as a measure to improve their knowledge and professional capabilities as well as prepare them for a form of leadership duties that they may be assigned within the organisation. External consultants also need to understand the process of managing risks so that they can effectively support decisions making processes within the organisation, making this unit highly suitable to them.

Learning Outcomes

Upon completion of the unit, the learners should be able to:

• Identify and evaluate the legal frameworks and legislations related to risk management within the organisation and in their own areas of responsibilities

• Evaluate policies put up within the organisation related to the process of management of risks that could impact their areas of responsibility

• Effectively conduct a risks assessment within the organisational context in their areas of responsibility

• Make recommendations on strategies and interventions that can be used to minimise the risks in their workplace

• Suggest mitigating factors to the impact of the risks within their areas of responsibility

• Propose tools that can be used to effectively and continuously identify, monitor and review risks within their areas of responsibility

Key Learning Areas

8605-403 Managing Risk in the Workplace focuses on areas of learning that are designed to prepare the managers for developing a healthy, safe, and enabling environment. This involves being able to address both the physical and emotional barriers and threats that could compromise physical, emotional and mental health or compromise the performance of the organisation. Some of the main learning areas within this unit include:

The Importance of Managing Risks

This area of learning helps to build the context and scope of risk management within the workplace. The learners are made to appreciate the dangers that the organisations face in factors such as technological, physical, environmental and information aspects.

They are introduced to legal frameworks surrounding risk management and the various principles of risk management that they should master to ensure that they can fulfil the roles of middle-level managers within the organisation. Within this area, the learners are also helped to develop an insight that they can use in identifying circumstances and consequences of hazards and risks hence boosting their awareness.

Identification and Management of Risks

This area of learning focuses on the tools that the manager can use to identify and manage the risks. in this area of learning, the learners are guided to understand the process of risk identification and prioritisation within the organisations, which is critical in facilitating effective handling of threats based on their severity and impact to the organisation.

They are also helped to identify various risk prevention and control measures that can be used within their areas of responsibility. Risk management involves different processes, such as risk assessment, and objective likelihood. Probability score, avoidance, control and reporting. These are processes that the learner is taught to pursue in ensuring that their ability to influence the organisation by effectively managing and mitigating the impacts of risk in their areas of responsibility is important.

Additionally, they are helped to conduct effective risk management planning and prepare risk management registers which are important in setting goals, objectives and strategies for overcoming various forms of risks that they could encounter within the organisation.

Evaluation

Upon completion of this unit, the learners should be able to master the theory and practice of the content taught. An assessment is therefore issued to evaluate this mastery and the accomplishment of the learning goals and objectives. The assessment comprises of a template where the learners are required to provide responses to questions on the unit. These questions help to evaluate both the practical and theoretical information that has been acquired and its impact in helping to shape the learner’s ability.