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Strategies for aggregating risk information in a societal safety context

Hassel, Henrik LU ; Cedergren, Alexander LU and Tehler, Henrik LU (2022) In Safety Science 149. p.11-11
Abstract
Risk assessment is a useful tool to inform decision-making when it comes to ensuring the continuous operation of critical societal functions. It can be used on many levels within an organization or on multiple societal levels. One way to conduct risk assessments on a higher system level, such as on national level, is to aggregate risk information from lower-level assessments, e.g. from the regional level. However, the process of aggregating risk information can be highly complex and different strategies for such aggregation are suitable depending on the underlying risk information, the characteristics of the risks that this information represents, and the analysts’ intentions in the aggregation process. To use a particular aggregation... (More)
Risk assessment is a useful tool to inform decision-making when it comes to ensuring the continuous operation of critical societal functions. It can be used on many levels within an organization or on multiple societal levels. One way to conduct risk assessments on a higher system level, such as on national level, is to aggregate risk information from lower-level assessments, e.g. from the regional level. However, the process of aggregating risk information can be highly complex and different strategies for such aggregation are suitable depending on the underlying risk information, the characteristics of the risks that this information represents, and the analysts’ intentions in the aggregation process. To use a particular aggregation strategy, different conditions must be met. In addition, throughout the aggregation process, a range of both generic and strategy-specific challenges require attention and careful consideration. Little previous research has focused on describing and systematizing different aggregation strategies, including description of the conditions and challenges for employing the strategies. Therefore, the aim of this paper is to further develop the conceptual basis of aggregation and to propose a set of common aggregation strategies that can be used within the area of societal safety. Furthermore, the paper also aims at describing the conditions and challenges of employing the strategies. In total, six strategies are proposed based on what risk information that needs to be aggregated (likelihoods, consequences or neither). In addition, the aggregation can be simple, in cases where a set of conditions are met, or more complex where overlaps and interactions between scenarios must be considered. The framework can be used to inform the process of aggregating risk information and has relevance across a range of different application areas. (Less)
Abstract (Swedish)
Risk assessment is a useful tool in ensuring the continuous operation of critical societal functions. It can be used on many levels of an organization or society. One way to conduct risk assessments on higher system levels is to aggregate risk information from lower-level assessments. However, the process of aggregating risk information can be complex and different strategies for such aggregation are suitable depending on the underlying risk information, the characteristics of the described risks, and the analysts’ intentions. To use a particular aggregation strategy, different conditions must be met. In addition, throughout the aggregation process, a range of both generic and strategy-specific challenges require attention and careful... (More)
Risk assessment is a useful tool in ensuring the continuous operation of critical societal functions. It can be used on many levels of an organization or society. One way to conduct risk assessments on higher system levels is to aggregate risk information from lower-level assessments. However, the process of aggregating risk information can be complex and different strategies for such aggregation are suitable depending on the underlying risk information, the characteristics of the described risks, and the analysts’ intentions. To use a particular aggregation strategy, different conditions must be met. In addition, throughout the aggregation process, a range of both generic and strategy-specific challenges require attention and careful consideration. Little previous research has focused on describing and systematizing different aggregation strategies, including description of the conditions and challenges for employing the strategies. Therefore, the aim of this paper is to further develop the conceptual basis of aggregation and to propose some common aggregation strategies that can be used within the area of societal safety. Furthermore, the paper also aims at describing the conditions and challenges of employing the strategies. In total, six strategies are proposed based on what risk information that needs to be aggregated (likelihoods, consequences or neither). In addition, the aggregation can be simple, in cases where a set of conditions are met, or more complex where overlaps and interactions between scenarios must be considered. The framework can be used to inform the process of aggregating risk information and has relevance across a range of different application areas. (Less)
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author
; and
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
keywords
Risk aggregation, societal safety, aggregation strategies, challenges, Risk and vulnerability assessment, critical societal functions.
in
Safety Science
volume
149
pages
11 - 11
publisher
Elsevier
external identifiers
  • scopus:85123862435
ISSN
0925-7535
DOI
10.1016/j.ssci.2022.105691
project
CenCIP
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
cfc7a9dd-5f5d-43c7-bb94-344baa66214b
date added to LUP
2022-01-28 09:17:51
date last changed
2022-04-24 22:27:02
@article{cfc7a9dd-5f5d-43c7-bb94-344baa66214b,
  abstract     = {{Risk assessment is a useful tool to inform decision-making when it comes to ensuring the continuous operation of critical societal functions. It can be used on many levels within an organization or on multiple societal levels. One way to conduct risk assessments on a higher system level, such as on national level, is to aggregate risk information from lower-level assessments, e.g. from the regional level. However, the process of aggregating risk information can be highly complex and different strategies for such aggregation are suitable depending on the underlying risk information, the characteristics of the risks that this information represents, and the analysts’ intentions in the aggregation process. To use a particular aggregation strategy, different conditions must be met. In addition, throughout the aggregation process, a range of both generic and strategy-specific challenges require attention and careful consideration. Little previous research has focused on describing and systematizing different aggregation strategies, including description of the conditions and challenges for employing the strategies. Therefore, the aim of this paper is to further develop the conceptual basis of aggregation and to propose a set of common aggregation strategies that can be used within the area of societal safety. Furthermore, the paper also aims at describing the conditions and challenges of employing the strategies. In total, six strategies are proposed based on what risk information that needs to be aggregated (likelihoods, consequences or neither). In addition, the aggregation can be simple, in cases where a set of conditions are met, or more complex where overlaps and interactions between scenarios must be considered. The framework can be used to inform the process of aggregating risk information and has relevance across a range of different application areas.}},
  author       = {{Hassel, Henrik and Cedergren, Alexander and Tehler, Henrik}},
  issn         = {{0925-7535}},
  keywords     = {{Risk aggregation; societal safety; aggregation strategies; challenges; Risk and vulnerability assessment; critical societal functions.}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  pages        = {{11--11}},
  publisher    = {{Elsevier}},
  series       = {{Safety Science}},
  title        = {{Strategies for aggregating risk information in a societal safety context}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ssci.2022.105691}},
  doi          = {{10.1016/j.ssci.2022.105691}},
  volume       = {{149}},
  year         = {{2022}},
}