This paper (SPE 51006) was revised for publication from paper SPE 46868, first presented at the 1998 SPE International Conference on Health, Safety and Environment in Oil and Gas Exploration and Production held in Caracas, 7 10 June. Original manuscript received 24 March 1998. This paper has not been peer reviewed.
Introduction Health, safety, and environmental (HSE) risks and their management concern the international oil and gas E&P industry. The main objective of integrated risk management is to contribute significantly to achieving business objectives and thereby provide the key to sustainable development in the next millennium. Risk management is defined as "the process whereby decisions are made to accept a known or assessed risk and/or the implementation of actions to reduce the consequences or probability of occurrence." It is not simply reduction of risk. A more realistic objective would be to strike an appropriate balance at the conceptual stage between benefits from reduced risk, expense of that reduction, and gains from the enterprise. An objective judgment can then be made on how to operate to optimize the level of risk on a day-to-day basis. Some risks, however, are simply unacceptable and therefore not a matter of compromise or optimization. As with all management, risk management is concerned with setting and achieving goals that support overall company or societal goals.
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