Volume 3 Issue 1.indd - Parsons Brinckerhoff

planning and improved flexibility and resilience to change
in the latter stages of a project minimize waste and rework.
Well-structured and effective risk assessment improves
the ability to determine the impact of risk exposure of
proposed or imposed changes on a project. Where risk
remains (it is inevitable that it will), an appropriate level
of risk contingency can be allocated and the people best
able to manage residual risk can be identified.
Exhibit 2: Web-Based Risk Registers used for
Management of Risk on UTA Frontlines Projects
PB’s risk management approach and systems help
managers and the project teams manage risk on a
continuous timeline throughout the life of the project—
from concept to closure. PB’s approach includes a
comprehensive assessment of risk value, use of risk
workshops, continuous application of a “live” webbased
risk register, risk analysis, and the development
of risk management systems and action plans. Regular
monitoring of the status of the risks, opportunities, and
effectiveness of the action plans are embedded in the
project’s culture and procedures to ensure that actions are
being implemented and are effective.
Over the last 3 years, PB in the United States has set
new standards in the construction industry for risk
management on major infrastructure projects. Our
experience ranges from the Frontlines (FTA New Starts)
light rail and commuter rail program in Salt Lake City to
the 4800 MW Medupi Power Station in South Africa. Both
utilized a customized web-based portal solution, easily
accessible to all members of the program and project
management teams in order to achieve efficient and cost
effective risk management. For both of these projects, this
web-based risk management system facilitated multiple
users accessing multiple risk registers that interlinked in
horizontal and vertical directions to give project managers
a comprehensive picture of their risk exposure at a project
level. Senior management sees the overall risk exposure
and the actions being taken to mitigate and manage risk
at the programmatic level.
PB’s state-of-the-art web-based risk management system
is comprised of:
• Create and edit capabilities for individual
risks including assignment of management
responsibility and associated action items;
Source: PB analysis
Exhibit 3: Dashboards for Navigation and Displaying Risk
Summary Information
Project Risk
Summary page:
summarizes cost
and schedule risk
exposure
Risk Distribution:
heat maps categorize
risk based on level of
impact and probability
of occurrence
Package/Group
Summary: links to
cost and schedule
risk information by
group
Source: PB analysis
Heat Maps can be
used to navigate
directly to the
critical risks
• Probability-impact matrices with embedded links
so management can quickly identify, and get
details of, key risks to the project;
• E-mail alert functionality to draw attention to key
risk events;
• Risk analytics developed using Monte Carlo
simulations for both cost and schedule;
• Drill-downs of risk exposure, available at the
project, contract package, and individual risk
levels;
• Real-time summaries of total risk exposure;
• Advanced cost and schedule analysis, including
historical tracking; and
• Customized reporting.
27 Vol. 3 • Issue 1 |