On the use and value of risk assessment for strengthening the response to the Covid-19 pandemic
(2022) 32nd European Safety and Reliability Conference, ESREL 2022 In Proceedings of the 32nd European Safety and Reliability Conference, ESREL 2022 - Understanding and Managing Risk and Reliability for a Sustainable Future p.1526-1533- Abstract
Risk assessment constitutes a valuable tool for organizations responsible for critical societal functions in their effort of reducing the likelihood and mitigating the consequences of potentially harmful events. In a previous project, the researchers have contributed to the development and implementation of a method for risk assessment in the municipality of Malmö, Sweden. Shortly after the full-scale implementation of this method, the municipality was hit by the Covid-19 pandemic. This spurred the research question of whether the municipality could see a value in the risk assessment process and make use of the risk assessment results in the response to the pandemic. To further investigate this question, an interview study was... (More)
Risk assessment constitutes a valuable tool for organizations responsible for critical societal functions in their effort of reducing the likelihood and mitigating the consequences of potentially harmful events. In a previous project, the researchers have contributed to the development and implementation of a method for risk assessment in the municipality of Malmö, Sweden. Shortly after the full-scale implementation of this method, the municipality was hit by the Covid-19 pandemic. This spurred the research question of whether the municipality could see a value in the risk assessment process and make use of the risk assessment results in the response to the pandemic. To further investigate this question, an interview study was conducted. The results show that, while the municipality had not yet analyzed the specific threat of a pandemic, the risk assessment process provided several benefits. In particular, the interviews revealed that the risk assessment process had resulted in a prioritization of the municipal departments’ most critical activities. The interviews also showed that the risk assessment process had created a general preparedness and increased risk awareness in the municipal departments. Finally, the results mghlight the reciprocal relationship between the risk assessment process and the crisis: the risk assessment activities proved valuable for managing the crisis, while at the same time, the occurrence of a crisis proved valuable to boost continued risk assessment activities.
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- author
- Cedergren, Alexander LU and Hassel, Henrik LU
- organization
- publishing date
- 2022
- type
- Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding
- publication status
- published
- subject
- keywords
- Business continuity management, Covid-19, Municipal risk assessment, Risk and vulnerability assessment, Risk assessment, Societal safety
- host publication
- Proceedings of the 32nd European Safety and Reliability Conference, ESREL 2022 - Understanding and Managing Risk and Reliability for a Sustainable Future
- series title
- Proceedings of the 32nd European Safety and Reliability Conference, ESREL 2022 - Understanding and Managing Risk and Reliability for a Sustainable Future
- editor
- Leva, Maria Chiara ; Patelli, Edoardo ; Podofillini, Luca and Wilson, Simon
- pages
- 8 pages
- publisher
- Horizon Research Publishing Corporation
- conference name
- 32nd European Safety and Reliability Conference, ESREL 2022
- conference location
- Dublin, Ireland
- conference dates
- 2022-08-28 - 2022-09-01
- external identifiers
-
- scopus:85208274315
- ISBN
- 9789811851834
- DOI
- 10.3850/978-981-18-5183-4_R25-10-488-cd
- language
- English
- LU publication?
- yes
- id
- 099d1086-a3bf-46c2-a161-d65d490cbdac
- date added to LUP
- 2025-02-26 10:55:22
- date last changed
- 2025-04-04 14:22:48
@inproceedings{099d1086-a3bf-46c2-a161-d65d490cbdac,
abstract = {{<p>Risk assessment constitutes a valuable tool for organizations responsible for critical societal functions in their effort of reducing the likelihood and mitigating the consequences of potentially harmful events. In a previous project, the researchers have contributed to the development and implementation of a method for risk assessment in the municipality of Malmö, Sweden. Shortly after the full-scale implementation of this method, the municipality was hit by the Covid-19 pandemic. This spurred the research question of whether the municipality could see a value in the risk assessment process and make use of the risk assessment results in the response to the pandemic. To further investigate this question, an interview study was conducted. The results show that, while the municipality had not yet analyzed the specific threat of a pandemic, the risk assessment process provided several benefits. In particular, the interviews revealed that the risk assessment process had resulted in a prioritization of the municipal departments’ most critical activities. The interviews also showed that the risk assessment process had created a general preparedness and increased risk awareness in the municipal departments. Finally, the results mghlight the reciprocal relationship between the risk assessment process and the crisis: the risk assessment activities proved valuable for managing the crisis, while at the same time, the occurrence of a crisis proved valuable to boost continued risk assessment activities.</p>}},
author = {{Cedergren, Alexander and Hassel, Henrik}},
booktitle = {{Proceedings of the 32nd European Safety and Reliability Conference, ESREL 2022 - Understanding and Managing Risk and Reliability for a Sustainable Future}},
editor = {{Leva, Maria Chiara and Patelli, Edoardo and Podofillini, Luca and Wilson, Simon}},
isbn = {{9789811851834}},
keywords = {{Business continuity management; Covid-19; Municipal risk assessment; Risk and vulnerability assessment; Risk assessment; Societal safety}},
language = {{eng}},
pages = {{1526--1533}},
publisher = {{Horizon Research Publishing Corporation}},
series = {{Proceedings of the 32nd European Safety and Reliability Conference, ESREL 2022 - Understanding and Managing Risk and Reliability for a Sustainable Future}},
title = {{On the use and value of risk assessment for strengthening the response to the Covid-19 pandemic}},
url = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.3850/978-981-18-5183-4_R25-10-488-cd}},
doi = {{10.3850/978-981-18-5183-4_R25-10-488-cd}},
year = {{2022}},
}