NASA Ames Integrated Risk Assessment

Abstract

Abstract NASA’s shift towards streamlined business practices depends on innovative management processes and tools. One such innovation, Risk Management (RM), has been levied as an Agency-wide requirement with corresponding policies which define the RM process. However, these policies are top level and do not necessarily ensure the institutionalization and transfer of the process’s best practices. Thus to implement the Agency’s philosophy while ensuring consistency and quality of risk assessments, the NASA Ames System Safety and Mission Assurance Office developed the Integrated Risk Assessment (IRA) process. IRA is the systematic use of both inductive and deductive assessment methods applied such that a risk is assessed for its potential harm to any resource and is tailored to the activity’s overall technical and programmatic constraints. Independently these methods are not unique; but their ensemble, which IRA represents, provides a powerful yet practical RM tool. This paper presents an overview and case study of the IRA process.