Integrative Risk Intelligence™

Because effective risk management can’t happen in isolation.

Origin

IRI™ emerged from studying public health education and 19 years of experience in insurance, risk management and analytics. Working in workers’ compensation, I learned that the most effective risk management decisions integrate four distinct intelligence domains:

 
  • Sciences (what does research say?)
  • Analytics (what does data say?)
  • Governance (what do the rules say?)
  • Experience (what do experts and those impacted say?)
 

However, most operations and traditional risk management models rarely fully integrate all four domains. IRI™ teaches that these domains require interdependence. Together, they form a dynamic cycle that transforms fragmented information into clear, actionable risk management.


How Does it Work?

The S.A.G.E. lenses help you move from risk awareness to informed action by viewing any exposure through four complementary domains.

1
Define the Exposure
Identify the specific risk or exposure you want to analyze. Be specific and clear. Name the activity, environment, or behavior that presents potential harm or uncertainty.
2
Apply the Lenses
Examine the exposure through the lens of each intelligence domain and record your findings. Jump in where it's the easiest. You may have to cycle through the model a few times.

The Sciences establish the systematic, evidence-based foundation for understanding risk. This domain includes formal, natural, social and applied professional disciplines. It provides hazard understanding and behavioral dynamics through codified, teachable knowledge grounded in validated theory and empirical evidence.

The Sciences ensure that decisions are grounded in validated theory and empirical evidence, providing the language and structure to understand hazards and exposures.

Sources can include:

  • Public Health and Epidemiology
  • Psychology and Behavior Change
  • Motivation Theory
  • Physics and Engineering
  • Data Science and Biology

Example: A Risk Manager uses exposure modeling and behavior theory to identify where workplace injury prevention programs are most effective. The science sets the foundation for measurable improvement.

Analytics transforms data into understanding. Identifying current, leading and lagging indicators reveal trends, probabilities, and patterns that inform decision-making.

Accurate, quality data is essential to decision-making, but it’s not the whole story.

Relying too heavily on one area of analytics will give an incomplete picture of your data.  In order to see the whole picture, one must work through the types of analytics. Ignoring or utilizing sub-par data will produce an inaccurate assessment of your analytics.

 

Four Types of Analytics

  1. Descriptive
    1. What happened?
    2. Identify what past and present data is associated with your exposure.
  2. Diagnostic
    1. Why did it happen?
    2. Conduct root cause analysis of your data from the descriptive analytics phase to identify exposure variables.
  3. Predictive
    1. What may happen?
    2. Use your data from the descriptive analytics phase to forecast future outcomes. Will often use statistical algorithms or machine learning.
  4. Prescriptive
    1. What should we do?
    2. Use data from descriptive, diagnostic and predictive analytics to predict the best course of action. The most advanced form of analytics that utilizes artificial intelligence.

Types of Data:

  • Concurrent Indicators
  • Leading vs. Lagging Indicators
  • Industry Trends
  • KPI’s
  • Feedback Loops
  • Source tracking and vetting

Example:
A safety team uses predictive analytics to forecast potential injury hotspots and implements changes before incidents occur. The process turns hindsight into foresight.

Governance defines the ethical, legal, and structural boundaries of acceptable risk. It provides accountability mechanisms that keep decisions fair, compliant, and transparent.

This domain ensures that both organizational and societal interests are protected. Governance integrates with the other domains by setting the context for how science is applied, how analytics are interpreted, and how experience is respected.

Types of Governance:

  • Local, state, and federal laws
  • OSHA and industry-specific standards
  • Building and fire codes
  • Organizational ethics and policy
  • Professional and academic guidelines

Example:
A construction firm uses IRI™ to balance innovative work practices with OSHA compliance. Governance provides the guardrails for safe experimentation and shared accountability.

Experience captures both human experiential knowledge from practice and anticipated impact on those affected. It ensures that risk management remains practical and human centered.

Human insight often detects weak signals long before data confirms them. When integrated with science and analytics, experience adds depth and realism that no model alone can achieve.

The generally accepted standards of control in Risk Management all require human interpretation and decision making.

Using behavior and motivation theoretical models adds scientific rigor to the process. However, one aspect that’s often overlooked in today’s modes is the experience and intuition of stakeholders.  

This approach:

  • Honors expertise and intuition
  • Values stakeholder diversity and ethics
  • Prioritizes dignity over performance and cost-effectiveness
  • Respects early pattern recognition
  • Builds trust through inclusion and transparency
  • Creates solutions that work for your specific need

Types of Experience:

  • Field Experience
  • Operational Experience
  • Experience with the audience
  • Becomes the synthesis layer
  • Uses best judgement and intuition with data and proven approaches to human dynamics
3
Map Connections and Gaps
Compare insights across the domains to find relationships, overlaps, and missing pieces.

Ask yourself:

  • What controls or measures are already in place?
  • Where are the gaps between what you know and what’s implemented?
  • Which gaps present the greatest opportunity or risk for action?
 

The gaps you identify become your action items.

4
Determine Acceptable Risk
Evaluate your findings and determine your next steps.

Is your current level of risk acceptable?

Yes

Document your findings,

Monitor for change 

No

Document your findings,

Implement mitigation measures, 

Assess effectiveness, 

Monitor for change