The ISO-31000 Approach to Risk Treatment

Selecting Risk Treatments

ISO31000 suggests applying one or more of the following approaches to treating risks:

• Avoiding the risk by deciding not to start or continue with the activity that gives rise to the risk

• Removing the risk source

• Changing the likelihood

• Changing the consequences

• Sharing the risk (e.g. through contracts, buying insurance)

• Retaining the risk by informed decision

• Taking or increasing the risk in order to pursue an opportunity

Some treatments will be more effective than others. Some will focus on likelihood and others on consequence management.

Any one risk treatment will usually also address other risks, incidentally or directly. See also DDDRR, Hierarchy of Controls, Risk Tolerance, and Criteria.