Mitigating risk is something we all do everyday. From locking our front doors to wearing our seat belts, we do many things every day to avoid accidents of all kinds. We have mats to keep from falling in the tub, deadbolt locks on the door, and fenced in yards to keep the dogs in and other animals out. Our workplaces give us key cards or fobs to access our offices, provide protective personal equipment when required, adhere to Occupational Safety and Hazard Administration rules (OSHA), and take other steps to ensure the safety of employees and customers. 

All of this is part of risk management; ways to lessen the chances of an accident occurring, and lessen resulting damage or injury if an accident does occur. Organizations have safety procedures, evacuation procedures, first aid kits, fire extinguishers and other procedures and equipment for just such situations. 

Insurance is a way of transferring risk, and it does so quite well. However, not everything can be insured, and that is why policies have exclusions, certain things that cannot be insured against. Even if something can be insured against, it is always better to avoid a loss rather than sustain one and collect on insurance. In wildfire zones, mitigation steps include clearing brush away from buildings, removing dead limbs, and spacing vegetation appropriately. Flood-prone areas may require houses or other structures to be elevated, have flood walls, build levees, or implement other measures to respond to or prevent flood damage. Buildings in earthquake zones have to meet certain building codes, as do buildings in tornado or hurricane areas, so that buildings are less likely to collapse with shaking or sustain damage from strong winds, roofs are less likely to be damaged by strong winds.