Risk management is something every single business owner needs to be aware of. No business is free from potential risks, whether they be financial, workplace health and safety or anything that could hamper business processes or business growth.
While you may already have some measures in place to tackle and mitigate risks in general, and possibly even have a risk management plan, there may be some areas of business risk that you haven’t really considered or are less aware of.
We’ll be taking a look at some of those topics in this article, so you can ensure you have every area of risk management covered, for peace of mind and prosperity of your business moving forward.
Managing Workplace Health and Safety
Compliance with workplace health and safety regulations should play a major role in your overall risk management strategy. Every industry in Australia is governed by certain laws, rules and regulations that your operation is expected to abide by. Breach these regulations and you could find yourself facing hefty fines or possibly even having your business shut down for non-compliance.
In order to avoid pitfalls in the WHS area of risk management, you and all of your staff members first need to know and fully understand the rules that regulate your industry. Only then can every staff member make a concerted effort to follow the rules and ensure a safe workplace in general.
Of course, adhering to the rules and regulations isn’t merely about avoiding costly fines. The true focus is to ensure the workplace is accident-free and provides a healthy environment for employees to work in and for customers and visitors alike. Everyone deserves to work in an environment that’s as safe as possible. Not only that, WHS incidents can lead to downtime in production, as well as costing the business money.
Following workplace health and safety guidelines should be of paramount importance in your business operation on a day to day basis.
Why Internal Auditing Is Important
Internal auditing is sometimes a factor that’s overlooked by business owners, but it shouldn’t be. Any medium to large-sized operation should do periodic internal audits and here’s why.
Internal auditing is a major component of proper risk management. When you bring in a professional internal auditor, who is completely unbiased and objective (somebody not tied to the business in any way), they will evaluate your business and point out any risks or potential problem areas. This way, you can get these suspect areas of your business operations fixed before an external auditor may come in and find faults.
Tying into the section above on WHS, an internal auditor could save you from receiving a fine for non-compliance.
That’s just one way an internal audit can be beneficial.
A professional internal audit can also take a close look at your business’s financial status and point out potential problem areas that you’ll need to get sorted if you were to bring on investors, or even if you wanted to sell your business in the near future.
Internal auditing can also encompass your business IT system and network, making sure it’s safe and secure and protected against cyber threats. Cybercriminals are rampant in the modern world, so you want to be sure your IT system is airtight when it comes to security.
There is also internal audit management software that can assist greatly with the internal auditing process on every level, including general risk management. Whether you have a member of staff take care of your internal auditing, or bring in an outside professional from time to time, having this type of dedicated internal auditing software running will make the process so much easier.
The software helps you manage your auditing processes every step of the way. It provides analytics, reports and monitoring all at a glance or click of a mouse button. To protect your business interests and to ensure you remain compliant with the rules and regulations, in the modern world, it only makes sense to take advantage of this powerful software. Your business could depend on it.
The Wrap
Risk management in business involves everything that could possibly affect your business in a negative way. That’s why it’s vital to be aware of everything that needs attention and consideration