The Risk and Insurance Management Society's (RIMS) approval as an accredited standards-development organization by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) means clarification on issues that impact risk managers, says Lori Seidenberg, director of the RIMS Standards & Practices Committee.
Seidenberg, also vice president in the enterprise-risk management (ERM) division of Centerline Capital Group in New York City, explains that this new status will increase RIMS' profile in the standards and practices arena by enabling it to "take a lead role in shaping and developing risk-management standards."
"RIMS has 10,000 members worldwide," Seidenberg explains. "We're an organization that responds to members' needs. We've put out white papers on various topics and we thought becoming a standards organization was the logical next step."
ANSI, a Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit organization, says it oversees the "creation, promulgation and use of thousands of norms and guidelines that directly impact businesses in nearly every sector: from acoustical devices to construction equipment, from dairy and livestock production to energy distribution, and many more."
ANSI is actively engaged in accrediting programs that assess conformance to standards—including globally recognized, cross-sector programs such as the ISO 9000 (quality) and ISO 14000 (environmental) management systems.
What does this mean to RIMS members?
Seidenberg explains, "There is such a need to define standards for risk management. We're creating an environment where we will be able to create and set standards that we feel our risk practitioners should be adhering to."
Having standards will help address certain issues and business relationships, such as the buyer-broker relationship, she says.
If the committee decides to "go back and revisit producer compensation," she explains, "we would talk about the standards, about what producers should be disclosing and what risk managers should be asking for."
The standards will be designed not only to help seasoned risk managers, but also those new to the profession, she says. "I've noticed a lot more companies moving to enterprise-risk management, so this will help them set standards within their own organization on how to develop their ERM program."
While there is much knowledge and documentation to be found on the Internet on the topic, she says, "there is really no one saying what their best practice is."
Once standards are set, they will be "intertwined" with initiatives RIMS is already working on, such as ERM and strategic-risk management, Seidenberg notes.
The new standards will serve to enhance best practices for risk management, taking them "to the next level," she says.
When it comes to topics, the committee will look to volunteers in the risk-management industry for ideas.
She adds that since RIMS is "all about education," as topics are rolled out, education might include webinars, an accompanying white paper "and other education in conjunction with the standards."
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