ISA Urban Forest Professional Practice Test

Risk management starts with identifying potential risks, evaluating how likely they are and how severe their impacts would be, and ranking them to decide which require attention first. This Identify/Assess/Prioritize step sets the focus and priorities for all subsequent actions, ensuring resources go to the most significant risks. Without it, efforts could be misdirected or important risks missed. The other activities—financing the cost of risk management, enabling the organization to coordinate risk management efforts, and selecting and implementing control measures—are important parts of the overall program, but they occur after risks have been identified and prioritized, as part of budgeting, governance, and risk treatment. So this component best captures the starting point of an effective risk management process.