Project Risk Qualification: Unit 4 Discussion Paper and Analysis

This assignment provides a detailed discussion on qualitative risk analysis within the context of a project involving the setup of new laser equipment in a hospital. It outlines the process of identifying and prioritizing risks, emphasizing the importance of a risk matrix for assessing the probability and impact of potential hazards. The paper presents a risk matrix model, defining severity and likelihood scales to calculate risk scores, and categorizing risks as low, medium, or high. The analysis highlights the critical risks associated with electrical hazards and employee safety, and offers mitigation strategies such as protective coverings, regular employee training, and budgetary planning. The discussion concludes with how the output results will be used by the project team and project manager to prioritize the most significant risks in the next step of the risk management process.

Unit 4 Discussion Paper Instructions - Qualitative Risk Analysis
If (assumption only) you have a list of risks identified and loaded into the risk registers, you need
to prioritize which risks are the most important to focus our efforts on.
1. Discuss, design, the approach, process, and qualification rules by which you will perform
a risk qualification on the case study. Review the techniques that Prichard recommends in
Part II of his text.
Designing an entire process depend upon the knowledge and understanding. Risk analysis
is carried out to understand and screen the variables for the project which affects its
development the most (Slovic et al., 2003). The following design was developed for the
setup of new laser equipment at the hospital to carry out various medical treatments. The
qualification rules for the risk has been gathered from different experts and assessed as
per they give the data. Organ damage or death seems more severe than some burns or
allergies. The death due to electrocution is a most dangerous risk, and death follows body
injury or any major accident, so its severity is just one point low. The organizational risk
includes employees getting hired and fired and moving to other places and some
budgetary problems that have been taken as low risk as there is no physical damage there.
Hazard Identification Risk Evaluation
1a. 1b 1c. 1d. 2a. 2b. 2c. 2d.
S/
N
Work activity Hazar
d
Possible
Accident/ Ill
health to
persons, fire
or property
loss
Existing Risk
Control
Sever
ity
Likeliho
od
RPN*
1 Setup of
Femtosecond
Laser
Physic
al
Body Injuries
or accident
Beam protections by
using protective
covering
No unskilled person
allowed to work on
high-end lasers
Continuous
monitoring and
safety for
personnel’s engaged
in the surgery
theaters
3 2 6
Electri
cal
Electrocution Warning signs are
displayed beside
system to warn users
of high voltage
4 3 12
Organi
zationa
Employee
absence
Regular hiring and
firing of the skilled
2 3 10

l employees
Budget
shortage
Budget must be
properly made with
proper evaluation
1 3 7

2. At the heart of this process is the risk matrix. All of the course readings provide examples
of a risk matrix; feel free to use these as models. It is extremely important to have clear
measurement for probability and impact in the matrix. You should design these
probability and impact scales clearly.
The risk matrix is the matrix used to identify risk and define various levels of risk
associated with development and execution of the project. It is developed with the
projection of harm. By making a matrix, we make the risks visible, and this can assist in
the decision making (Garvey and Lansdowne, 1998). All organization has their standards
of building risk model and it depends on what project people are working.The following
is the risk model developed with the severity of damage (physical or property):
SEVERITY
Critical
(5)
Very
Serious
(4)
Serious
(3)
Marginal
(2)
Negligible
(1)
LIKELIHOOD
Frequent
(5)
25
Operation
not
permissible
20
Operation
not
permissible
15
Review at
appropriate
time
10
Review at
appropriat
e time
5
Risk
acceptable
Moderate
(4)
20
Operation
not
permissible
16
Operation
not
permissible
12
Review at
appropriate
time
8
Review at
appropriat
e time
4
Risk
acceptable
Occasiona
l
(3)
15
Review at
appropriate
time
12
Review at
appropriate
time
9
Review at
appropriate
time
6
Risk
acceptable
3
Risk
acceptable
Remote
(2)
10
Review at
appropriate
time
8
Review at
appropriate
time
6
Risk
acceptable
4
Risk
acceptable
2
Risk
acceptable
Unlikely
(1)
5
Risk
acceptable
4
Risk
acceptable
3
Risk
acceptable
2
Risk
acceptable
1
Risk
acceptable
The evaluation of risk matrix can’t give an exact picture as the numbering and ranking
can be biased and could be manipulated to gain better results.

3. Your matrix should enable you to calculate a risk score. You should define how the risk
score is calculated using your matrix. This score will ultimately be used to prioritize
which risks are low, medium, and high.
The matrix scores are calculated based on the severity of damages and if there is any chance of
death. The low risk means negligible injury case may or may not happen; medium risk says
multiple injuries could happen and critical (Clar and Ahmad, 2006). High risk is allotted the
condition where there could be a death. The following are the scores for the risk matrix:
Colour Score Risks Action
16 - 25 High
Project is not feasible and acceptable
Stop the project at this moment and abort any
functioning in this project
8 -10 Medium
Regular monitoring and assessment must be
taken to avoid any mishaps
Electrical connections must be handled with
care
1 - 6 Low
Risk acceptable: Residual risk
The is no inherent danger or threat in proposed
project
4. Consideration should be given in your discussion on how the output results will be used
by the project team and project manager to prioritize the most significant risks in the next
step of the risk management process, otherwise known as risk quantification. Note that
the more significant risks coming from the qualification step should have their probability
and impact estimated quantitatively during the risk quantification (next assignment).
The outputs suggest that overall there is common risk associated with the current project
with the limited chances of any death.So one must look into the properly trained
employees who can deal efficiently with the electrical and heat conditions. These two are
the chief factors deciding the death while other two parameters are organizational risk

parameters which have a negligible risk as there can be a chance of stopped project due to
financial issue and sometimes lack of labor. The risk can be managed by using protective
covering to avoid any accidents or death. The organizational risk could be handled by
regular hiring and efficient schemes for labor so that qualified and skilled labor doesn’t
drive away. Budgetary issues must be planned before execution of project avoid any cash
crunch.
References
Clark, D. E., & Ahmad, S. (2006). Estimating injury severity using the Barell matrix.
Injury Prevention, 12(2), 111-116
Garvey, P. R., & Lansdowne, Z. F. (1998). Risk matrix: an approach for identifying,
assessing, and ranking program risks. Air Force Journal of Logistics, 22(1), 18-21.
Garvey, P. R., & Lansdowne, Z. F. (1998). Risk matrix: an approach for identifying,
assessing, and ranking program risks. Air Force Journal of Logistics, 22(1), 18-21.
Slovic, P., Finucane, M. L., Peters, E., & MacGregor, D. G. (2004). Risk as analysis and
risk as feelings: Some thoughts about affect, reason, risk, and rationality. Risk
analysis, 24(2), 311-322.
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