COM 0804.015 2002-2004 - Laserfiche WebLink

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County personnel from managemc,..c on down to regular employees should .ssist in identifying risks and managers and/or supervisors should develop suitable loss control and intervention strategies. Insurance and Risk Management When losses do occur, organizations must pay for them somehow. Insurance is one of many methods available for financing losses. However, insurance does nothing to prevent a loss from occurring. The least costly accident in terms of time, money, and morale is the one that never happens. Practicing risk management is living with the commitment to prevent harm. Any misstep or event that brings negative attention to the organization can have a lasting impact on an organization's ability to fulfill its mission. The success of most nonprofits depends on the support of the public (volunteers, members) and risk management is an effective way to help maintain the public trust. The Bole of the Risk Management Department The risk management department would oversee the execution of a five-step risk management process: 1. Acknowledge and identrfv risks. The operation of any organization involves some degree of risk or uncertainty of future events. The first step would be to identify these risks. These may include a very wide variety of incidents, such as someone slipping on a wet floor, vehicular accidents, injury while playing at a park, accident while performing job related duties, etc. No matter how improbable a risk may seem, if the organization can envision an incident happening, this should be listed during the first stage of developing a risk management program. 2. Evaluate and prioritize risk. Assessment of the probability of each risk becoming reality and estimating its possible effect and cost to the County would be the next step. Past accidents and near misses should be evaluated Checking with similar organizations that have developed a probability and cost estimate should be looked at. Also take into consideration the possible public reaction to an adverse event. Priority areas of concern will include those risks that are most likely to occur and are very expensive when they do happen. Lower priority risks are those that seldom occur and are not likely to cost as much when they do happen. 3. Decide how to manage your risks, using risk management strategies. Development of a written plan, which outlines how the organization will manage its major risks, is the next step. The plan should describe the suggested strategy or combination of strategies that the organization will employ. The four basic strategies for controlling risk are: • Avoidance. Do not offer or cease to provide a service or conduct an activity because it is considered too risky. ' • Modification. Change the activity so that the chance of harm occurring and impact of potential damage are within acceptable limits. • Retention. Accept all or a portion of the risk, and prepare for the consequences. • Sharing Risks. Consider sharing the risk with another organization. This may include purchasing insurance or sharing responsibility for a risk with another service provider through a contractual arrangement. • Implement The Plan. Once the appropriate governing body or management personnel has reviewed the plan, the agency should formally adopt and implement it. This would involve 3