(1) A management science that employs the findings of the Hazards Vulnerability Analysis process to make strategic and tactical decisions on how risks will be treated whether deferred, reduced (through mitigation and preparedness activities), transferred (insurance and others), or avoided.85 Risk management provides the option of accepting certain levels of risk, at least temporarily, that are considered too low for resource allocation. Conversely, it provides the decision option to commit major resources that eliminate or avoid risks that are of such high probability and/or high consequence that they threaten the very existence of an organization. Risk management, which may be considered a subsection of overall emergency management, focuses upon mitigation preparedness activities that prevent and or reduce hazard impacts, and is considered by many to be its own discipline. (2) Process of identifying, analyzing, assessing, and communicating risk and accepting, avoiding, transferring or controlling it to an acceptable level at an acceptable cost. The primary goal of risk management is to reduce or eliminate risk through mitigation measures (avoiding the risk or reducing the negative effect of the risk), but also includes the concepts of acceptance and/or transfer of responsibility for the risk as appropriate. Risk management principles acknowledge that, while risk often cannot be eliminated, actions can usually be taken to reduce risk. (DHS Risk Lexicon 9/08)