Project risk management in the Queensland engineering construction industry: a survey

This paper provides the results of a survey of senior management involved in the Queensland engineering construction industry, concerning the usage of risk management techniques. These are described in comparison with four earlier surveys conducted around the world and indicate that: the use of risk management is moderate to high, with very little difference between the types, sizes and risk tolerance of the organisations, and experience and risk tolerance of the individual respondents; risk management usage in the execution and planning stages of the project life cycle is higher than in the conceptual or termination phases; risk identification and risk assessment are the most often used risk management elements ahead of risk response and risk documentation; brainstorming is the most common risk identification technique used; qualitative methods of risk assessment are used most frequently; risk reduction is the most frequently used risk response method, with the use of contingencies and contractual transfer preferred over insurance; and project teams are the most frequent group used for risk analysis, ahead of in-house specialists and consultants.