Instead of setting standards first, such procedures evaluate cost and benefit information in order to provide a range of optimal solutions to the criteria that should be used. These procedures first must be understood by engineers, who are accustomed to having standards and criteria set for them at first, and then to search for optimal means to achieve such standards. Elliott Mittler addressed risk processes for large businesses versus small businesses. Whether mitigation gets funded depends on the cost and visibility of the proposed mitigation for large businesses. For small businesses, the acceptable risk is de facto as a result of other decisions.
Implementation is mandated by government.
To reach an agenda, a problem that is perceived as getting worse must be identified, with a solution, champion, and belief that the government body will act. What is passed on an agenda depends on the support and whether there is consensus expert opinion on the nature of the problem and choice of solutions. The acceptable risk is likely to be the result of political choices. The decision to mitigate then is moved from businesses and government to the engineering community. As a result of such standards, both mitigation and acceptable risk in the public and private sectors are altered in their purchase and maintenance cycles.