The Army Training System - AskTOP

Risk Management• Establishing strong continuity documents and planning overlaptours for key leaders facilitate smooth transitions duringextended operations.Residual Risk. Once the responsible leader develops andaccepts controls, he determines the residual risk associated with eachhazard and the overall residual risk for the mission.• Residual risk is the risk remaining after controls have beenselected for the hazard. Residual risk is valid (true) only if thecontrols for it are implemented. As controls for hazards areidentified and selected, the hazards are reassessed as in Step 2and the level of risk is then revised. This process is repeated untilthe level of residual risk is acceptable to the commander or leaderor cannot be further reduced. See Figures A-3 through A-5.• Overall residual risk of a mission must be determined when morethan one hazard is identified. The residual risk for each of thesehazards may have a different level, depending on the assessedprobability and severity of the hazardous incident. Overallresidual mission risk should be determined based on the incidenthaving the greatest residual risk. Determining overall mission riskby averaging the risks of all hazards is not valid. If one hazard hashigh risk, the overall residual risk of the mission is high, no matterhow many moderate or low risk hazards are present.Substep B - Make Risk DecisionA key element of the risk decision is determining if the risk isjustified. The commander must compare and balance the risk againstmission expectations. He alone decides if controls are sufficient andacceptable and whether to accept the resulting residual risk. If hedetermines the risk level is too high, he directs the development ofadditional controls or alternate controls, or he modifies, changes, orrejects the COA.Leaders can use the risk assessment matrix in Figure 2-4—inconjunction with their commanders’ guidance—to communicate howmuch risk they are willing to delegate. For example, a commander mayplace constraints on his subordinates that restrict their freedom of actionto accept risk in instances where the risk might imperil his intent, hishigher commander’s intent, or a critical capability of the unit.2-16