Modern society lives surrounded by risks and, in this way, It's up to us to manage these risks. However, what changes is our way of acting towards it, make risk an opportunity to grow. eco-efficiency, the rise of the market, or even its maintenance, is a function of corporate sustainability, and risk management is the key to helping this process.
Sustainability as value creation
Corporate sustainability creates value for the organization, by taking advantage of opportunities and managing risks. Act for and together, no social, in economic and environmental.
Sustainability today is an opportunity, more than solving problems or complying with laws, sustainability is the basis for innovating and making profits.
The evolution of environmental management
Environmental management has undergone serious and important developments over time., according to Ricardo Young from the Ethos Institute, it starts in denial, where "the environment is not important, what matters is to produce; passing through the escape, where pollution is a fact of life and customers pay the costs; the ambivalence, where the environment is believed to matter, but it's not up to us to solve the problem; until we reach the commitment, where everyone should strive to improve the environment and proactivity where we must do what has to be done".
But the path to commitment and proactivity was neither easy nor continuous, some phases of "regulatory pressure" and the need for legal compliance, were necessary, mainly with the creation of the environmental crimes law, instituted by Law n.. 9605, in 1998.
And this sustainability thing is nothing more than implementing the concepts of integrated management to the environment, the quality, social responsibility and health and safety at work. seems simple, but for the levels of satisfaction to be as expected, and that remain so, the management of risks incorporated into these different sectors must be continuous, and at the same time expected, in a way that forecasts help in decision making.
The normal NBR ISO 9001 e 14001 as a form of adaptation
Two years ago, in 2015, NBR ISO standards were updated 14001 e NBR ISO 9001, and with this new version, organizations not only manage risk in all phases of implementing the standards, but they recognize that environmental and quality issues are part of the business, already being outlined in their strategic plans.
If we look at the great accidents in history, like Cubatão or Goiana and, recently, Mariana, we can say that there was a failure in the analysis of environmental risks to the business.
and usually, in well-structured companies, the reduction or non-occurrence of significant events, as well as its consequences, bring the self-confidence that there is risk management happening, and that "the right is being done", and this impression reinforces the premise of delegating risk management to lower levels of the company, in the end, "our risks are under control". This is a completely wrong view., and catastrophic events can, sim, arise from overconfidence and inadequate delegation.
The challenges faced by organizations are many, with regard to dealing with low probability events and significant consequences. Nonetheless, events like these are not isolated. If an accident of significant proportions happens, it is because there were not enough and robust mechanisms to prevent the event or minimize its effect.
Risk management must be at the highest levels of the organization
a very important point – and that deserves a lot of attention -, is that the catastrophic risks and the integrity of the protection mechanisms associated with them must be clearly identified as critical elements, monitored very frequently and managed by the highest level of the organization.
Nonetheless, only companies with very strong risk management maintain this policy. In addition, attention and strict controls are required on items such as asset integrity, safety culture, risk communication and change management, mainly in times of crisis, when the need for cost control or market price volatility, are very strong and can influence decision making., impacting the reliability of protective barriers.
And more, some surveys indicate the need to pay attention to regulatory changes and stakeholders, whose expectations and requirements levels continue to rise. Thus, the occurrence of catastrophic events in this scenario can definitely affect the sustainability of the business.
In preparation for these scenarios, you need to challenge existing business hypotheses and, which is even more challenging, broadly, clearly understand that old historical practices are no longer acceptable today. Either corporations engage and commit themselves once and for all to prevention or they will be exposed to the demands of authorities and society itself.
For information about services, contact us, schedule a meeting.
Sources:
[1] Brandão, Monica M.. Hess, citizen – – Risk Management and Sustainability. RI Magazine, Brazil. Consulted in 22/04/2017. Link to consultation.
[2] Daniela Cavalcante Pedroza – Sustainability and risk management. Administrators Portal, Brazil. Consulted in 22/04/2017. Link to consultation.