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Why We Developed Investigative Risk Management — and Why Your Organisation Needs It
- Mar 27
- 2 min read
Updated: 6 days ago
When was the last time your risk assessment process actually challenged assumptions, exposed system weaknesses, or strengthened critical controls?
For many organisations, risk management has become a compliance-driven process. Risk registers are populated and reviewed, controls are listed, and verification is completed — but incidents still occur. Why?
Because most systems don’t interrogate risk. They document it. They assume it’s been controlled. They often don’t know whether the controls are effective — until they fail.
That’s why we developed Investigative Risk Management™ (IRM™).
What is Investigative Risk Management™?
IRM™ is a proactive, forensic approach to risk. It brings together the principles of investigation, critical control thinking, and systems analysis to ask a different question:
"What if we investigated the risk before the incident?"
Instead of waiting for a failure and looking back, IRM™ looks forward. It explores how a risk could evolve, where controls might break down, and whether the system supporting those controls is strong, weak, or blind to failure.
It’s not a replacement for your risk management process; it’s the thinking that makes your process meaningful.
Why Traditional Risk Systems Miss the Mark
Many risk assessments rely on workshops, checklists, and templates — and while these tools have their place, they’re not enough.
Controls are often assumed to be working.
Verification is treated as a tick-the-box activity.
Investigations are siloed from the risk register.
Frontline workers are rarely consulted about control practicality or real-world implementation.
The result? A risk register full of assumptions — not assurance.
The Three Pillars of IRM™
IRM™ is made up of three proprietary methodologies, developed by SRA Global to strengthen and modernise how businesses manage risk:
Investigative Risk Assessment™ (IRA™) A proactive assessment process that applies investigative techniques like causal analysis and systems thinking to stress-test risk assumptions and control effectiveness.
Investigative Risk Analysis™ (IRAn™) A forensic review of control failures, near misses, or emerging trends — identifying root causes, latent conditions, and systemic weaknesses before they escalate.
Investigative Control Management™ (ICM™) A deep dive into the controls themselves — not just whether they exist, but whether they are appropriately designed, implemented, owned, verified, and resilient under pressure.
Why We Built This
At SRA Global, we’ve spent decades supporting high-risk industries and small businesses alike. We’ve seen the same story play out across sectors:
An incident occurs.
The control was “in place.”
The risk was “documented.”
Everyone is surprised.
We created IRM™ because we believe this is preventable — not with more bureaucracy, but with better thinking.
We believe risk professionals, safety teams, operational leaders, and board members deserve a methodology that asks better questions, leads to better insights, and ultimately helps save lives, protect reputations, and improve business performance.
Is Your Risk Register Telling You the Whole Story?
If you’ve ever asked:
“How do we know our critical controls actually work?”
“Why are incidents still occurring despite having risk assessments in place?”
“Are we missing something systemic?”
“What does the data actually tell us?”
Then IRM™ was built for you.
Ready to Learn More?
Find out more about our IRM™ methodology and how your organisation can get started: Investigative Risk Management™ – View Page
See our upcoming courses
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