Content
Categories of Risk
How are Risks Categorised at the Project Level?
Within MOD Projects a consistent approach to the categorisation of Risk will aid the identification of common areas of Risk and the aggregation of Risk across projects within the same IPT or Cluster.
To ensure a coherent approach at Project level, a default set of Project Risk Categories has been included within corporately provided project risk management tools. Anyone not using corporately provided tools should also adopt these categories so that risks can be aggregated easily.
The recommended Project Risk Categories are shown in the table below. Brief "Definitions" have been added to each Project Risk Category to ensure their consistent use. The Project Risk Categories and "Definitions" are identical to those used within DE&S as the strategic (or corporate) Risk Categories.
What are the Project Categories ?
| Category |
Definition |
| 1 Acquisition Project Management |
- Smart and Dynamic Acquisition.
- Actions to achieve consistent, best practice integrated and synthesised project and risk management.
- Through Life Management.
- Risk associated with securing Initial or Main Gate Approvals.
|
| 2 Safety |
- Air, Land and Sea Safety.
- Safety, Health Environment and Fire (SHEF). (responsibilities as an employer)
- Safety of the equipment that DE&S provides.
|
| 3 Governance |
- Business planning and objective setting.
- Adherence to Government Standards, and MOD Standards.
- Management Processes and system of internal control including Financial control and management accounting.
- Asset management.
- Audit.
- Prevention of fraud, embezzlement and corruption.
- Data Protection and Freedom of Information.
- Legal and regulatory requirements.
|
| 4 Change |
- Targets, Programmes; New Projects; New Policy.
- Changes in UK policy and policies of other National Governments.
- Political change.
- PACE Change Programme.
|
| 5 Nuclear |
- Nuclear activity to include Weapons, Propulsion, Movements and Submarines.
|
| 6 Integration and Interoperability |
- Absence of project policies and strategies at the "system of systems" level. Failure to identify interdependencies.
- Failure to establish and exploit capability and system architectures and models.
- Interdependent projects that have not yet passed Main Gate are vulnerable to performance trade offs.
- Incompatible Applied Concepts/CONEMPs/CONUSE across capabilities.
- Incompatible operating procedures for "equipments" within interoperating systems.
- Incompatible operational/mission plans/across capabilities. Failure to understand and optimise critical mission treads.
- Inconsistent interpretation of common information sources (e.g. SAG scenarios vignettes) by different projects.
- Failure to consider how to test and accept solutions to interoperability requirements.
- New projects fail to identify requirements for interfacing with legacy equipments.
- Also relates to Defence Lines of Development.
|
| 7 Sustainability |
- Ability to achieve Force Elements @ Sustainability targets.
In this context, Sustainability is defined as the ability to meet FE@S requirements and targets; it is not linked to environmental factors.
|
| 8 Environmental |
- How DE&S and our equipment impacts on the Environment and the management of the environmental impact. Relating to issues such as:
- Fuel consumption
- Pollution
- Disposals
|
| 9 Commercial |
- Relating to Industry and Supplier Management:
- Supplier sustainability - Legal and management stability of contractors and sub-contractors, Take-overs. Rationalisation or relocation of contractors.
- Management of suppliers - Getting the best out of suppliers. Identifying and encouraging the availability of the required industrial capacities to secure defence capabilities.Assessing and selecting suppliers effectively in relation to the required capabilities.
- Economic Factors - inflationary raw materials and Fuel Price Fluctuations.
- Commercial Exposure and Contract Sustainability – how effective is the contract in delivering required outputs, risks associated with contractual liabilities such as liquidated damages and insurance liabilities.Industrial relations.
- Supply chain management Contractors resourcing and management of subcontractors.
|
| 10 Requirements |
- Key User Requirements (KURs).
- System Requirements.
- Integrated Test Evaluation and Acceptance Processes and the development and maintenance of the related output documents e.g. URD, SRD and ITEAP.
|
11 Resource
(Funding) |
- Adequacy of Planning Round (PR) funding to cover acquisition and support activities.
- Programme and Project Affordability.
- Variation of Price (VOP).
- Exchange Rates, increase/ decrease could effect forecast costs.
- Conflict Prevention Funding for UORs provided by Centre.
- Efficiency Improvement.
|
| 12 Technical |
- Degree of proof of relevant scientific principles, Research and Development.
- Current maturity of relevant technologies.
- Supporting the key technologies.
- Sourcing Information.
- Assessing maturity.
- Integration and Software .
- Innovation.
- Technical consequences of incremental acquisition.
- Engineering processes.
- Skilled and tooling resources.
- Ill-defined areas of technical specification.
- Discrepancies between acceptance tests and the service operating environment.
|
13 Training
(Military) |
- Relating to Defence Lines of Development:
- DE&Ss’ ability to provide the means to practice, develop and validate the practical application of a common military doctrine in the delivery of a military capability.
|
| 14 Equipment |
- Relating to Defence Lines of Development:
- Military platforms (including integration and survivability), systems and weapons, expendable and non-expendable, needed to outfit/equip an individual, group or organisation.
|
| 15 People |
- Sufficient, capable and motivated personnel to deliver DE&S outputs, both now and in the future: the skills, tools and training to support them.
- Recruitment
- Selection
- Incentives
- Culture
- Morale
- Discipline.
|
| 16 Information |
- Relating to Defence Lines of Development:
- Relating to consequences of having non-coherent identification of data, information and knowledge requirements for capabilities and all processes designed to gather and handle data, and exploit information and knowledge.
|
| 17 Organisation |
- Relating to Defence Lines of Development:
- Operational and non-operational organisational relationships of people.
- Inclusive of those in military force structures.
- MOD civilian organisational structures.
- Defence Contractors providing support.
- Consequences of inadequate guidance for the preparation of concepts that underpin capabilities and operational processes.
- Potential implications of emerging concepts.
- Maturity of process for evolving capability and doctrine from concepts.
- Stability of present doctrine.
|
| 18 Infrastructure |
- The acquisition, development, management and disposal of all fixed, permanent buildings and structures, land, utilities and facility management services in support of Defence capabilities.
- Developing improved business processes, architecture and procedures.
- Data and information architecture.
- Structuring support and enabling groups.
- Business continuity.
- Can also relate to Defence Lines of Development.
|
| 19 Logistics |
- Relating to the Joint Supply Chain:
- The planning and execution of the operational movement and maintenance of forces.
- Supporting armed forces operations through improving the readiness cycle.
- Enhanced cost-effective supply chain management.
- Better buying linked with improved customer service.
- Also relate to Defence Lines of Development.
|
| 20 Security |
- Risks associated with the production, use, transport and disposal of material subject to security provisions.
- Prevention of attacks.
- Prevention of espionage.
|
| 21 Support to Operations |
- Ability to satisfy Routine and Operational Demands.
- Ability to deliver UORs.
|
| 22 Quality |
- Ability to deliver a quality product. Includes issues such as configuration control, Contractors Quality Assurance systems, standardization, and use of Field Force representatives.
|
| 23 End User and Customer Agreements |
- Ability to satisfy Joint Business Agreements (JBAs).
- Risks caused by unrealistic and unachievable targets in JBAs.
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