Joachim Adenusi, head of risk at Essex County Council and member of the Institute for Risk Management’s board of directors, says: “Traditionally, when people look at the public sector they tend to view it as a place for lazy people. Some people think if you want an easy job, just go to the local authority.”

The biggest risk confronting Essex, says Adenusi, is falling short on government targets. High on his list of objectives is ridding the council of any semblance of a lethargic culture.

Research by insurance firm Axa shows public sector absentee levels in 2006 were a third higher than in private companies, numbering an average of 8.5 days a year. Adenusi says growing absenteeism can be addressed by employing a risk management mindset.

“If you are ill, you might not be strong enough to want to come to work but you might not be too sick to work altogether, so why not work from home through the virtual private network access?” he says.

“Use your laptop, dial in to the council system and link up to meetings online. This way of thinking enables performance and productivity to continue.”

Adenusi is confident that Essex is well prepared for traditional business continuity issues, such as fraud and disaster recovery. However, he says that IT leaders need to recognise the mistake of allowing risk management to become risk aversion.

“Risk management is an enterprise tool. It shapes the culture and performance of the organisation. We can do things to prevent problems emerging but what are the other things we need to do, proactively, to actually take risks as well?” he says.

“It is important to recognise that the other part of risk is opportunity. This is not a common approach in the public sector, which is usually risk averse. One of my roles in the organisation is to bring that creativity or innovation to managers so that if they have an idea they can dare to do something new by using risk as a tool to help them into that process. Risk management is not a scarecrow.”