Set up risk matrices

You set up risk matrices on the Admin tab in Risk management, under Matrix. Fill in Name, No. of columns (Max 10) and No. of rows (Max 10) and click Create matrix. Then name the risk-type tabs, write the axis words and the texts for each column and row, colour the cells, and click the save button at the bottom of the matrix editor. Creating the matrix alone does not store its colours and texts; they are stored only when you save. Once analyses use a matrix, every save creates a new version of it, so finish your changes before you save.

Before you start

Risk management appears in the left menu only if your company has the module and you have at least the Read right on its row. If you don’t see it, contact your user administrator. See The top bar and the left menu.
The Admin tab in Risk management is shown only to users with the Admin right on the Risk management row. Your user administrator grants it; see Give a user access rights.
Decide the size first. Columns are probability and rows are consequence, from 1 to 10 of each. Once an analysis uses the matrix, you cannot reduce the number of columns or rows.
Decide whether users should see one set of texts, or separate English and Norwegian texts in their own language (see Translation below).
Deleting a matrix needs the Admin level on the Super area row. If you do not have it, ask your user administrator.

Steps

Create a matrix

In Risk management, open the Admin tab. The Matrix section shows Select a matrix on the left and Create matrix on the right.
Leave Select a matrix empty. If a matrix is selected, choose the empty option at the top of the list to get back to Create matrix.
Type a Name (required) and, if you like, a Description.
In No. of columns (Max 10), type the number of probability levels.
In No. of rows (Max 10), type the number of consequence levels.
Switch on Default matrix if this matrix should be preselected when users create a new risk analysis.
Click Create matrix. The button is disabled until Name, columns and rows are filled in.

The matrix editor opens below, with four risk-type tabs (personnel, asset, environment and reputation), default axis words and default colours: green in the low corner, red in the high corner and yellow between. Continue with the next procedure and save, or the colours and texts are not stored.

Fill in the matrix and save it

If the boxes in the editor cannot be edited, click Edit mode at the top of the editor.
Choose how texts are written with the Translation toggle at the top of the editor:
- Off: one text per box, shown to all users whatever their language.
- On: an English and a Norwegian box, marked with flags, for every text. Users see the text in their own language.
Click a risk-type tab to work on it. The selected tab shows a box for its name (or an English and a Norwegian box); type the name of the risk type.
To add a risk type, click the + button at the end of the tab row. A new tab is added; give it a name. A matrix can have up to 10 tabs.
To remove a tab, click the X on it and confirm. You can do this only while no analysis uses the matrix, or for a tab you added since the matrix was last saved.
Above the grid, type the probability word in the top-left box (the title of the columns) and a text for each probability column. Then type the consequence word (the title of the rows) and a text for each consequence row. Columns are numbered 1 upwards from the left; rows are numbered with the highest at the top.
Click a cell to open the colour palette, and click a colour: yellow, red, orange, green, light blue, azure or dark azure (in the chart Color filter, the last three are called lightazure, azure and darkazure). Repeat for each cell you want to change.
Colours are set on the first tab and shared by all tabs. To give another tab its own colours, select that tab and switch from “Same colour palette” to “Different colour palette”. The tab starts with a copy of the first tab’s colours, which you can then change.
Repeat steps 3 to 8 for each tab.
Click the save button at the bottom of the matrix editor. The button stays at the bottom of the window while you scroll.

Copy a matrix

Select the matrix in Select a matrix.
Click the copy icon next to the list. The Copy Matrix dialog opens.
Under “Please enter a name for the new matrix”, check the name that is filled in, and change it if you like. Names are not checked for duplicates, so choose one that is easy to tell apart. The copy button is disabled while the name is empty.
Click the copy button.

The copy is a new, separate matrix with the same size, tabs, colours, words and texts. It is not the default matrix, no analyses use it, and it becomes the selected matrix.

Delete a matrix

Select the matrix in Select a matrix.
Click the trash icon next to the list. The icon is shown only to users with the Admin level on the Super area row, and only when no analysis uses any version of the matrix.
In the dialog “Delete risk management analysis”, which asks “Please confirm that you wish to delete this matrix?”, confirm. The dialog title says analysis, but only the matrix is deleted.

The matrix, its colours and its texts are deleted permanently, and the selection is cleared.

Change a matrix that analyses already use

Select the matrix in Select a matrix. Connections lists the analyses that use it.
Make all your changes to texts, tabs and colours in one go. Keep the size as it is: the number of columns and rows of a matrix that analyses use cannot be lowered.
Click the save button at the bottom of the matrix editor once.

What you should see

After creating a matrix, it appears in Select a matrix. If your company has a matrix named “Default”, it is listed first, then the others by name.
After saving, the matrix is stored with its tabs, words, texts and colours. No message is shown.
The matrix with Default matrix switched on is preselected under Matrix when someone clicks New risk analysis. See Create a risk analysis.

Good to know

Saving a used matrix creates a new version. For a matrix that one or more analyses use, every save creates a new version, even when nothing was changed. The new version replaces the old one in Select a matrix, and only the newest version can be edited. Save once, when your changes are complete.
Analyses keep the old version until someone updates them. For an analysis, the matrix stays at the version it used, with its old tabs, texts and colours, after you save a new version. The analysis moves to the new version when a user with the Edit right on the Risk management row, in edit mode, clicks an original-risk cell and answers yes to “New matrix version”: “There is a new version of the matrix used in this risk analysis. Would you like to update this analysis to reflect the changes?” Answering no keeps the old version, and the question comes back next time. Values already set are not converted. See Assess original and residual risk.
Connections covers every version. For a matrix, Connections lists the analyses that use any of its versions. A matrix that any analysis uses cannot be deleted.
Two sets of texts. For a matrix, the texts with Translation off and the English and Norwegian texts with Translation on are stored separately. Switching the toggle shows the other set, which may differ or be empty. The setting you save decides which set users see in analyses and on the heat map.
Only one default matrix. Creating or saving a matrix with Default matrix switched on switches it off on every other matrix.
The matrix named “Default”. A matrix named “Default” is one that exists from the start; its name and size cannot be changed. The name has nothing to do with the Default matrix switch, which decides which matrix is preselected in a new analysis and can be switched on for any matrix.
Long texts are shortened. In the editor, a column text longer than 52 characters is cut off; hover over it to read all of it.