The Alliance of Blood Operators (ABO) needed a coherent risk management framework to guide decision-making on the delivery of blood services by its member organizations, which would help produce consistent decision-making processes and outcomes across the different national jurisdictional and regulatory structures. The RBDM approach was meant to support a shift in risk decision-making in national blood services organizations from one focused on minimizing all risks to blood quality and supply, with little concern for costs, to a risk-based approach in which resources are allocated according to risk and the application of financial resources and management rigour is proportional to the risk they are addressing.

Margaret Wilson is a Senior Risk Analyst at Risk Sciences International (RSI), where she has been a foundational member since the company’s inception in 2006. Drawing on a rare combination of scientific breadth and analytical precision, Margaret has supported and led a wide range of multidisciplinary projects spanning microbial and chemical food safety, prion diseases, climate-related risk prioritization, and global regulatory systems.

Preventable harm in workplaces or public spaces can trigger regulatory enforcement, reputational loss, service disruption, or long-term loss of public trust. These harms may stem from failures in equipment, processes, human behavior, or oversight—and are often foreseeable through systematic risk assessment. For organizations responsible for public environments, infrastructure, or service delivery, risk-based safety planning offers a path to pre-empt injury, legal exposure, and crisis escalation.

RSI develops simulation models that capture the complexity of risk-related systems, drawing on subject matter expertise, empirical data, and stakeholder input. Its models are designed to inform strategic planning, regulatory decisions, and operational readiness. RSI emphasizes transparent assumptions and usability for both technical and non-technical audiences.

RSI conducts vulnerability and capacity assessments using a mix of quantitative indicators and qualitative inputs. It emphasizes local knowledge and stakeholder engagement, particularly in climate adaptation and health equity contexts. RSI’s integrated approach ensures findings are used to inform practical and just resilience-building strategies.

RSI supports clients in designing risk surveillance systems that are tailored, scalable, and grounded in decision needs. This includes indicator selection, threshold development, and integration with existing systems. RSI ensures that surveillance protocols are practical, scientifically valid, and usable across sectors and jurisdictions.

RSI uses attitudinal research to inform how technical risk assessments are likely to be received and acted upon. By pairing social science methods with structured stakeholder mapping, RSI helps clients integrate public values into policy planning and risk framing. This approach is especially useful in contentious or uncertain domains, where trust and perception may drive more outcomes than formal risk calculations. RSI’s ability to translate sentiment into actionable insight strengthens its Understanding Risk capacity.

Privacy has become one of the defining issues of the digital age, touching every aspect of personal, commercial, and governmental activity. With vast amounts of data generated through online platforms, health systems, financial services, and smart devices, individuals face growing risks of surveillance, identity theft, misuse of personal information, and erosion of autonomy. The challenge…

Following previous work on the potential risk of acute liver failure associated with quinolone antibiotics, RSI investigators, Mohamed Taher, Franco Momoli, Donald Mattison and Daniel Krewski evaluated the potential risk of retinal detachment (RD) associated with these medications. Although no cases of RD were linked to quinolones in clinical trials, some reports of RD were noted…