Recommendations for Improving the Use of Risk Matrices in Coarse Risk Analyses

Sammanfattning: Risk matrices are tables with rows representing consequences, and columns representing frequencies. The risk matrix is considered a simple and convenient tool for visualizing risk. However, it has faced critique from the scientific community. Though risk matrices are extensively applied in practice for visualizing results from coarse risk analyses, there is limited research regarding guidance on its use. This thesis therefore aims to add to the currently limited guidance, considering suitability to practical applications. Recommendations for improving the use of risk matrices were identified through a litterature study, documentation study and interviews. From the literature study, 15 recommendations emerged. By studying the documentation and answers provided from interviews, six out of 15 recommendations were deemed practically suitable in the context of coarse risk analyses: ● Make users aware of the limitations of the matrix and highlight difficulties. Be clear on the fact that the risk matrix may not be the best tool for decision making, but rather one of many methods supporting decision making. View the tool with scepticism in mind. ● Make the risk matrix more comprehensible through a few simple visual improvements. ● Provide guidelines on the use of risk matrices for events with several consequence categories. ● Clarify how risks that have the same score/position in the matrix should be prioritized. ● Establish risk matrices with decision makers risk appetite in mind. ● Do not have a large variety of risk matrices within one company and industry, if there are not different risk appetites or clear motivations.