BFRL: Risk Mitigation Toolkit

Risk Mitigation Toolkit

The Risk Mitigation Toolkit is a central source for identifying and retrieving risk assessment and risk management guidance documents, databases on the frequency and consequences of natural and man-made hazards, procedures for performing economic evaluations, and software tools needed to develop a cost-effective risk mitigation plan for constructed facilities. The Toolkit is built upon a web-based version of NIST Special Publication 1082.

Role of the Toolkit

Developing a cost-effective risk mitigation plan involves assessing the risks associated with natural and man-made hazards, formulating combinations of mitigation strategies for constructed facilities exposed to those hazards, and using economic tools to identify the most cost-effective combination of strategies. Developing a risk mitigation plan requires both guidance and data. Guidance is needed to help owners and managers to assess the risks facing their facility. Data about the frequency and consequences of natural and man-made hazards are needed when assessing the risks that a particular facility faces from these hazards. Estimates of the costs of protection are needed to insure that safeguarding personnel and physical assets and operating within the budget are kept in balance. Finally, guidance on the use of economic evaluation methods is needed to insure that the correct economic method, or combination of methods, is used. Although there is a great deal of high-quality information available on risk assessment and risk management, natural and man-made hazards, and economic tools, there is no central source of data and tools to which the owners and managers of constructed facilities and other key decision makers can turn for help in developing a cost-effective risk mitigation plan. The Toolkit serves as such a central source.

The Toolkit is organized around three main topics—risk assessment, risk management, and economic evaluation. Within each main topic, the Toolkit includes background information and an annotated bibliography covering major reference and guidance documents that will help you develop a cost-effective risk mitigation plan. The Toolkit also employs two indexes, one organized by subject and one organized by author. The indexes point to key reference documents, databases, and software tools. In the Toolkit, all web links within the three main topics are active, enabling you to browse documents and data sources electronically. Furthermore, many of the web links permit documents and data files to be downloaded for future reference and use.

Registration and Download

The Toolkit is now available for download. The Toolkit is set up as a PDF file that operates through your web browser. Thus, it runs on a wide variety of operating systems. The Toolkit requires Adobe Acrobat Version 9.0 or higher.

Please send your comments about the Toolkit to nistsp1082@nist.gov. If upon clicking download and completing the registration form, you are unable to download the Toolkit please send an email to nistsp1082@nist.gov with mailing instructions and we will send you a single, complementary copy of the Toolkit on a CD.

This toolkit was developed at the National Institute of Standards and Technology by employees of the Federal Government in the course of their official duties and is in the public domain. NIST assumes no responsibility whatsoever for its use by other parties, and makes no guarantees, expressed or implied, about its quality, reliability, or any other characteristic. The Toolkit provides links to websites because they have information that may be of interest to our users. NIST does not necessarily endorse the views expressed or the facts presented on these sites. Further, NIST does not endorse any commercial products that may be advertised or available on these sites.