Discuss about the various risks that are associated with the Engineering Projects.
Risks are an integral part of any business project. Engineering projects are associated with various kinds of predictable as well as unforeseen risks that hinder the steady progress of these projects. However, risks are an important part of any engineering project. It is important that the risks are identified on time, and mitigated or curbed down in intensity, before it proves to be malicious. This assignment highlights the various risks that are associated with the various engineering projects, along with the ways the risks could be avoided or mitigated. Risk assessment has a major role to play, in ensuring that the risks are not of high intensity.
The aim of this research is to highlight the various risks, along with the causes of the risks, such that they could be mitigated.
Risks associated with various engineering projects
Risks could be defined as a situation that exposes an engineering project to a dangerous situation. The risks could be predicted or unforeseen. The various risks that are associated with the engineering projects include the following:
Financial risks
Financial risks highlight the risk in money in the business or a project, such that the project might cease to make further progress (Batkovsky, Batkovsky & Klochkov, 2016). Financial risks highlight that the budget allocated for a project is not sufficient enough to ensure the success of the project. Engineering projects might be aborted midway, if it faces financial risks. Sudden bankruptcy of the company taking up the engineering project might also cause financial risks.
Operational risks
Operational risks are caused due to internal failures in the projects. The internal processes, the people and the system failure comprises of the operational risks. Thus, unlike the financial risk, there is no return on the operational risk.
Strategic risks
The strategic arises from the operation within a specific industry. With time if the customers are no more in demand of the project, then the company carrying out the project faces operational risks.
Compliance risks
The risks associated with the risk of compliance with the rules and legislations leads to compliance risk. The engineering projects have to comply with the legislations of the country, in order to be completed successfully.
Reputational risks
One of the greatest assets that a company possesses is the reputation of the company. The loss of reputation might result in negative publicity. Reputation takes a lot of time and efforts to be build, but can be lost easily (Euchner & Ganguly, 2014). Thus, the reputational risk is a major risk that is faced by any company.
Unforeseen risks
Along with the above mentioned risks, there are certain other risks that cannot be predicted, and the company cannot take precautions, in order to curb down these risks (Franks et al., 2014). The losses of efficient and trained employees in a huge number, or natural calamities are some of the major unforeseen risks.
Geothermal power production in Australia is one of the main engineering projects. The hot rock geothermal production of power relies on the use of the buried hot rocks to heat water, as well as for the production of electricity (“Induced seismicity associated with geothermal power production in Australia – data.gov.au”, 2017). Australia is considered to have high geothermal resources. With enriched resources, Australia is able to produce low emission, cost competitive energy. However, a lot of risk is associated with the production of the energy. One of the greatest hazards that are faced is the induced seismicity. This term is used to refer to earthquakes that are caused due to human activities. The induced earthquakes are associated with the movement of the geothermal resources in and out of the earth. These are caused due to human activities such as underground mining or development of hot rock reservoirs (“Induced seismicity associated with geothermal power production in Australia – data.gov.au”, 2017). With the increase in the geothermal power production, this risk of induced seismicity has been increasing day by day. As the intensity and the risks associated with the induced seismicity is low, hence it could be further reduced with effective risk management and monitoring (“Induced seismicity associated with geothermal power production in Australia – data.gov.au”, 2017). It is essential that these risks are mitigated, to avoid malicious effects.
The NERP TE project is one of the major engineering projects that are undertaken in the wet tropical region (“NERP TE Project 7.2 Invasive species risks and responses in the Wet Tropics (CSIRO) – data.gov.au”, 2017). The risks that are associated with this project are the responses of invasive species. The risk management includes the development of strategic pest management that takes into account the assets and the ecology of the wet tropic regions (“NERP TE Project 7.2 Invasive species risks and responses in the Wet Tropics (CSIRO) – data.gov.au”, 2017). The wet lands are the homes to a wide variety of flora and fauna, hence they should be protected.
The risk of the natural hazard in Perth is a major risk for Western Australia. A major area of Perth is situated on the flood prone river Swan (“Natural hazard risk in Perth, Western Australia – Cities Project Perth Report – 2005 – data.gov.au”, 2017). Moreover, it is also close to the most active earthquake zone of Australia. The northern region of the city has several limestone belts (“Natural hazard risk in Perth, Western Australia – Cities Project Perth Report – 2005 – data.gov.au”, 2017). Due to this the coastline of Perth suffers from coastal erosion. Thus, the risks of the natural hazards are high along with the risks of earthquake hazards.
The Coastal lake assessment and management is another Australian project. The CLAM tool assists the stakeholders to assess the economic as well as the environmental tradeoffs, that is associated with the development as well as the remediation of the estuaries and the coastal lakes (“Management of saltwater intrusion in coastal aquifers in Queensland, Australia – data.gov.au”, 2017). However, in order to complete the project successfully, the environmental impacts are to be considered. Moreover, the landscape management has to be done effectively, in order to minimise the adverse effects of the project.
The biophysical oceanography project is one of the government projects that are undertaken by the government of Australia (“Project overview: Biophysical Oceanography- SRFME – data.gov.au”, 2017). This project has the aim of examining how the forcing of the climate influences the plankton and the nekton dynamics, with special reference to the continental shelf off Perth. The objective of this engineering project is to highlight the on-shore as well as the off-shore biophysical ocean structure. It also monitors the annual seasonal cycle and its inter-annual variability, which is based on remote sensing data (“Project overview: Biophysical Oceanography- SRFME – data.gov.au”, 2017). However, risk is associated with this project. It is important that the ecosystem is preserved and the planktons are not harmed. Thus, along with maintaining the ecology of the planktons and nektons, the project is to be carried out (“Project overview: Biophysical Oceanography- SRFME – data.gov.au”, 2017).
The management of the saltwater intrusion in the coastal aquifers in Queensland is also another major engineering project taken up by the Australian government. Most of the rivers in Queensland have extensive deltas, with large reserve for the groundwater (“Management of saltwater intrusion in coastal aquifers in Queensland, Australia – data.gov.au”, 2017). These deltas contain fertile land that is most suitable for agricultural activities. In order to carry out this project it is to be ensured that management technique has to be developed and implemented, such that sustainability could be ensured.
Another engineering project includes the detection of the disease and the prevention of the spread in Torres Strait. The project mainly focuses on the enhancement of the methods to detect the introduction of the exotic animal diseases in Torres Strait. The persistence of the disease in the wildlife has to be detected (“NERP TE Project 11.2 Improved approaches for detection of disease and prevention of spread in Torres Strait (JCU) – data.gov.au”, 2017). However, the major risk lies in maintaining the ecological balance, while conducting this project. These risks are to be mitigated by ensuring that the detection of the disease is done without affecting the ecology.
The manufacturing industry also has various risks. The engineering project on the manufacturing of the Portland cement in Papua and New Guineas is an important engineering project (“Geological notes on the supply of raw materials for cement manufacture at Port Moresby, Papua – data.gov.au”, 2017). However, the risk lies in the supply of the raw materials, along with the procurement of the machineries.
From the above-mentioned examples, it has been seen that most of the engineering projects are associated with various kinds of risks. Complete mitigation of these risks is not possible. However, they could be curbed down, in order to ensure that the risks do not hamper the effectiveness of the engineering projects. Along with the project specific risks, some common risks are associated with every project. The safety of the employees, along with ensuring that all the equipments are in proper working condition, can also curb down the intensity of risks.
Conclusion
Risks are an integral part of any engineering project. The various kinds of risk that are associated with the engineering projects include the induced seismicity, disturbances of the ecological balance, operational risks, unforeseen risks, financial risks. However, it is essential that these risks are identified as soon as possible and ways to mitigate these risks are recommended. The engineering projects cannot be aborted due to the potential risks; however, they have to be curbed down in intensity, to make the engineering projects successful. This assignment has highlighted various engineering projects, along with the risks that are associated and recommended ways to mitigate the risks.
References
Batkovsky, A. M., Batkovsky, M. A., & Klochkov, V. V. (2016). Implementation Risks in Investment Projects on Boosting High-Tech Business Production Capacity: Analysis and Management. Journal of Applied Economic Sciences. Romania: European Research Centre of Managerial Studies in Business Administration, 11(6), 44.
Euchner, J., & Ganguly, A. (2014). Business model innovation in practice. Research-Technology Management, 57(6), 33-39.
Franks, D. M., Davis, R., Bebbington, A. J., Ali, S. H., Kemp, D., & Scurrah, M. (2014). Conflict translates environmental and social risk into business costs. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 111(21), 7576-7581.
Geological notes on the supply of raw materials for cement manufacture at Port Moresby, Papua – data.gov.au. (2017). Data.gov.au.
Induced seismicity associated with geothermal power production in Australia – data.gov.au. (2017). Data.gov.au.
Management of saltwater intrusion in coastal aquifers in Queensland, Australia – data.gov.au. (2017). Data.gov.au.
Natural hazard risk in Perth, Western Australia – Cities Project Perth Report – 2005 – data.gov.au. (2017). Data.gov.au.
NERP TE Project 7.2 Invasive species risks and responses in the Wet Tropics (CSIRO) – data.gov.au. (2017). Data.gov.au.
NERP TE Project 11.2 Improved approaches for detection of disease and prevention of spread in Torres Strait (JCU) – data.gov.au. (2017). Data.gov.au.
Project overview: Biophysical Oceanography- SRFME – data.gov.au. (2017). Data.gov.au.
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