Stage 1 – Scope, context and criteria

The scope of the risk management activity should be defined in Stage 1. The list below shows the specific elements that should be defined, as well as considerations that are relevant for Arctic Marine Risk Assessments.

• Objectives and decisions that need to be made;
• Outcomes expected from the steps to be taken in the process;
• Time, location, specific inclusions and exclusions;
  • How can arctic seasonal variations be assessed?
  • What are the geographical boundaries?
• Appropriate risk assessment tools and techniques;
  • How can ARIFs be assessed in the risk assessment?
  • What methods/technique are available?
  • What input data do we need for decision-making and from where can we get data?
• Resources required, responsibilities and records to be kept;
  • Does our risk assessment team have resources with relevant knowledge and experience from arctic operations?
• Relationships with other projects, processes and activities.
  • Can we learn from other risk assessments made for arctic waters?
  • Best practices?

The external and internal context is the environment in which the organization seeks to define and achieve its objectives.

The context of the risk management process should be established from the understanding of the external and internal environment in which the organization operates and should reflect the specific environment of the activity to which the risk management process is to be applied (ISO 31000:2018)

A detailed list of elements to be included in the external and internal context are defined in ISO 31000, chapter 5.4.1

The organization should specify the amount and type of risk that it may or may not take, relative to objectives. It should also define criteria to evaluate the significance of risk and to support decision-making processes. Risk criteria should be aligned with the risk management framework and customized to the specific purpose and scope of the activity under consideration (ISO 31000:2018).