Take risks to manage punishment (3,2,4)
I believe the answer is:
cut it fine
'take risks' is the definition.
(cutting something fine is doing it riskily)
'manage punishment' is the wordplay.
'manage' becomes 'cut it' (to 'cut it' is to manage or cope in a situation).
'punishment' becomes 'fine' (fine is a kind of punishment).
'cutit'+'fine'='CUT IT FINE'
'to' acts as a link.
(Other definitions for cut it fine that I've seen before include "Allow little margin of time, space etc" , "order to salami slicer?" , "only just make it" , "Leave no margin for error" , "Risk not leaving enough margin for error" .)