However there is still a lot of misinformation about what to do in an earthquake. Do you or don’t you get under heavy furniture? Do you sit against an inside or outside wall? When do you leave the building? And so on. So being a risk manager I did some research and decided to rely upon the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and the American Red Cross (Earthquake Safety Checklist) for the best information. Both of these sources focus on protecting your home but the same tactics apply for businesses.

Before the Earthquake

You can take some preventive measures to reduce the damage from an earthquake by securing large objects and latching cabinets. Most were lucky with pictures knocked over but the National Cathedral suffered millions of dollars worth of damage.

According to FEMA, What to Do Before an Earthquake, first check for hazards in your home (or office) and find safe places. You should have emergency supplies, a communications plan and work with your community for earthquake preparations. Historically, the earthquake causes some damage but the greater risk is fires from broken electrical and gas lines. In the 1906 San Francisco Earthquake fires from broken gas pipes and electric lines caused most of the damage.  Therefore you need to know how to shut off the utilities in your home and office building.

  
  During the Earthquake      

What to Do During an Earthquake :

•    DROP to the ground;
• Take COVER under a sturdy table or other furniture;
• HOLD ON until the shaking stops;
• Stay AWAY from glass, windows, outside doors and walls, and anything that could fall, such as lighting fixtures or furniture (bookcases, file cabinets, large pictures, etc)
• Stay inside until the shaking stops and it is safe to leave the building.

 After the Earthquake

FEMA’s suggestions are to get to a safe place, expect aftershocks and listen to radio, television or social media channels (I added that one) for the latest emergency information. Cell phones and landlines become inoperative quickly so rely upon text messages to communicate. Also the American Red Cross has its Safe and Well website where you can register that you are safe and well. You can also  search for other registrants. Many people use their Facebook pages as a check-in site so decide within your family how you will communicate after an earthquake.

If you can and it is safe, help injured or trapped people and administer basic first aid. Also check for hazardous materials such as chemicals, bleach, gas and gasoline. If you can safely clean up the spilled materials do, otherwise keep others away from the dangers.

 Be Prepared

A little preparation goes a long way whether it’s an earthquake, hurricane or fire. Make your plans for your home and family as well as your business and office. When people know what to do it improves their chances of surviving a disaster. Take the time now to make your plans.

The Risk

Earthquake is not the risk but rather the peril or cause of loss for damage to property. A building can sustain structural damage, walls crumble and ornate facades, pinnacles and spires fall off. Heating, ventilation and air conditioning equipment if not secured properly will shift and be damaged. Broken gas pipes and electrical wiring create other dangers. The shaking can make interior walls collapse, file cabinets, large furniture and other objects tip over, and pictures fall off walls.

If the quake caused any significant direct property damage your business operations will be interrupted. During the interruption your association may lose income (rental fees, dues, sales, conference registrations) or incur added expenses to keep up operations including setting up a temporary office.

The Analysis

During the analysis phase we consider the frequency (how often) and severity (dollar loss) potentials of earthquakes. The U. S. Geological Survey (USGS) is a tremendous resource all things earthquake.

Frequency

USGS suggests you find your proximity to active earthquake faults, the seismic history of the region (frequency), and how long since the last earthquake. On the East Coast earthquakes are relatively low in both frequency and intensity. However the New Madrid Fault in southeastern Missouri and western Tennessee has a higher probability of a significant earthquake. The West Coast including Utah and Nevada has a higher incidence of earthquakes. USGS’s 2009 Earthquake Probability Mapping site enables you to check the probability by zip code.

Severity

As we say in the insurance world “frequency breeds severity,” so the more earthquakes in a region the greater the chance for a significant event. Alaska is the most earthquake prone state but California has had the most substantial earthquakes.

When assessing severity consider both the potential intensity of an earthquake and your building’s and office’s susceptibility to damage. Brick buildings don’t do well in earthquakes while frame construction fares better due to its “flexibility.” Other construction types depend upon its level of “earthquake resistance.” Buildings in California are more earthquake resistant than in other parts of the country. You also need to consider the soil composition, slope of the land and annual rainfall to assess severity.

Earthquake Insurance

You can purchase earthquake insurance as an additional peril under your property insurance policy (personal and commercial). The premium depends upon your location (proximity to faults) and building construction. Earthquake insurance is much cheaper on the East Coast than the West Coast. You can buy coverage for the full value of your property or as a sublimit.

Another factor is the size of the deductible. On the East Coast your deductible may be as low as 2% of the property values while in California your deductible would be 10 – 15% of the property values.

While assessing the need for earthquake insurance, determine the property values subject to loss by an earthquake. If the property values are low and you have a high deductible, the claim may be under the deductible. If you own an older building with ornate features you may sustain more damage than a newer building. The East Coast quake caused damage mainly to churches and older brick buildings where it might be appropriate for earthquake insurance.

If you are still undecided, ask your insurance agent to get a quotation for earthquake insurance. Knowing the cost and deductible can help you decide if you need earthquake insurance.

The Virginia earthquake awakened people to this exposure. We learned that few of us know what to do and unintentionally endangered themselves and others. Even if you don’t purchase insurance learn what you should do before, during and after an earthquake to protect people and property. After writing your new procedures don’t forget to train your staff. Be safe.

During the CommPartners’ Learning Socially: Associations at the Crossroads Seminar, Susan Robertson, CAE executive vice president of ASAE and president of ASAE Foundation, mentioned a speech by Barry C. Melancon, CPA, chief executive officer, American Institutes of CPAs about risk. Association TRENDS selected Mr. Melancon, as its 2011 Association Executive of the Year. According to Association TRENDS Melancon said that “association executives ‘have an obligation to drive our individual associations forward,’ noting that this cannot happen without taking risks, finding an appropriate balance, and communicating effectively.” You can view his speech here (risk discussion begins around 16:00).

My heart warms when an association executive talks about risk especially one that practices good risk management. Melancon shared his view that an association’s board and key volunteers need to be willing to take risks. The association leaders have to recognize that not every effort will be successful or get the results expected. When an association tries something new and gets unexpected results it is not “failure” but rather an opportunity to learn and move forward.

Innovation and Risk
I’ve written about Innovation and Risk before that an association has to take risks to be creative but be smart about the risks it takes. Risk involves uncertainty; we don’t know the outcomes of our efforts. A lot of us are uncomfortable with uncertainty we still hold the illusion of control. We don’t know if that new service, program, membership model will have the results we want (or expect)? As Jamie Notter tweeted during the seminar

Jamie was talking about social media but the statement holds true for other activities. Some associations are still offering the same arguments against social media – what if someone says something bad about? An employee or member misbehaves? In my first guest post for SocialFish, The Hidden Risks of Social Media: It’s Not What You Think, I declared the greatest social media risk is not being an active participant. If you use social media you are aware negative comments and can respond accordingly. Therefore,
The greatest threat to an association’s survival is to not take any risks; not trying something new or moving forward.

Or another way to say it is failure to take risks leads to failure. Albert Einstein defined insanity as doing the same thing over and over again expecting different results. If you don’t change what you are doing the results won’t change either. The downward spiral will continue until your association becomes completely obsolete and out of business.

Risk Management as Change Agent
So how do we get out of this insanity loop? How do we start taking some risks? A risk averse association isn’t going to change simply by a board or CEO edict; this requires a cultural change. Change doesn’t come quickly to many people or associations but the practice of risk management provides techniques to facilitate change and address people’s fears.

Risk management is about learning to deal with uncertainty; not knowing how people will receive a new initiative or when something bad may happen such as an auto accident, office fire, employee injury, or anything else that goes wrong. You first need to know how your management team and board feel about risk – their appetite for risk, tolerance for uncertainty. If risk averse, you have a bigger challenge to get them comfortable with risk and uncertainty.

Photo: Renaissancechambara

Another way risk management is a change agent is by putting risks into perspective. Our first reaction to an idea is its too risky but after evaluating the potential outcomes we realize it is not so bad. The risk may be acceptable or can be mitigated effectively. A part of implementation is to set up the metrics to measure the impact of the change. Through the metrics you find if the results are what you expected or if you need to change some aspect of the project.

Remember everything has its risks but each decision also has the possibility of reward. The new membership model, chapter re-organization, or volunteer management tools may be successful, even exceed expectations. But you won’t know until you do something. Push through the fear and inertia by managing risks. You’ll be amazed at the results.

Instead of just brainstorming possible negative outcomes you should be identifying all potential events (positive or negative) that affect the organization. To increase your chance for success use a more systematic identification method. The process starts with identifying the values exposed to loss (people, property, income, business operations). Then look at the possible events that can cause a loss. The cause or peril can be natural, human or economic coming from an internal or external source. There are risk checklists and other means of identifying risk available based upon your association’s needs and operations.

Risk Analysis
The second step of the risk management cycle is to analyze and prioritize the identified risks. Many overlook this step and make decisions based solely on their personal perception of the risk. Without analysis, risk becomes an emotional issue; we are considering the loss of something of value. Each person perceives risk differently (Read Risk and Fear: How Do You Perceive Risk?) and reacts based upon their beliefs. Human beings are not rational; we don’t always act in our own best “rational” interest but our emotions. Many exposures especially liability generate fear that equates to risk for many folks. Fear affects your decisions that may or may not be in the best interests of your organization.

Risk analysis offers a practical and rational approach to counter the emotional responses to risk. In this phase we decide how likely and often an identified event will occur, its potential “frequency.” If you live on the Atlantic or Gulf Coasts there is a higher probability of a hurricane than in the Midwest.

After assigning the level of frequency of an event, you have to rank the potential severity when it happens. Severity is usually evaluated in financial terms – how much it will cost – but can also consider non-financial factors such as reputational damage.
The process of assigning frequency and severity rankings helps people to recognize their fears and perceptions of risk. For example you may be a risk-taker in a group of risk-averse people so you need to acknowledge and address their concerns.

Priorities
After analyzing the risks we can set our priorities for managing these risks. Not all risks are equal some are more important than others. Through frequency and severity analysis you decide which risks need to be addressed first. Generally any risk with a high severity ranking has to be managed or avoided. An exposure with both high frequency and high severity should be first on your priority list. A low-frequency – low severity risk can perhaps be ignored. By setting priorities attention is focused on managing the most important risks improving your chances for success.

Don’t just identify your risks. Without analysis and setting priorities you can’t be confident you will manage the right exposures and make the best decisions. Analysis enables a full understanding of the risk and selecting the most proper management techniques. Anything less leads to bad decisions and possible harm to your association.

Risk management is one of those nebulous terms that we all interpret personally. Some think it is a complex, time-consuming process that is only helpful to larger organizations. Others believe it is impractical and/or not worth the effort. You may think it’s valuable but have no idea how to apply its practices and principles to your daily operations. Finally a few have incorporated risk management into their organizational culture and use its concepts daily.

Risk management is simply what you do to prepare for the unexpected. No matter where you are on this continuum, risk management is a part of your daily life if you wear your seatbelt, lock your doors, use passwords or do other everyday tasks. You don’t know if you any of these events are going to occur but you are prepared. The same principle applies to your association.

But how do you prepare for the unexpected – it’s unexpected? Donald Rumsfeld’s “Unknown unknowns” speech offers an explanation.

Reports that say that something hasn’t happened are always interesting to me, because as we know, there are known knowns; there are things we know we know. We also know there are known unknowns; that is to say we know there are some things we do not know. But there are also unknown unknowns – the ones we don’t know we don’t know. And if one looks throughout the history of our country and other free countries, it is the latter category that tend to be the difficult ones.

Rumsfeld went on to say, “The absence of evidence is not evidence of absence, or vice versa.” He expanded on this in a speech at NATO Headquarters in June 2002:

There’s another way to phrase that and that is that the absence of evidence is not evidence of absence. It is basically saying the same thing in a different way. Simply because you do not have evidence that something exists does not mean that you have evidence that it doesn’t exist. And yet almost always, when we make our threat assessments, when we look at the world, we end up basing it on the first two pieces of that puzzle, rather than all three.

People minimize the need for risk management by the absence of evidence (nothing bad has happened yet). However that doesn’t mean it won’t happen (not evidence of absence). Your association may not yet have had a fire, an auto accident, a social media nightmare, a disruption to your annual meeting or the sudden loss of a key person but that doesn’t mean it can’t happen.

For associations, the “unknown unknowns” are a serious threat because you don’t plan for the unknown event. There will always be “unknown unknowns,” new risks arise, but other people are familiar with these unknowns. A formal or structured risk assessment can help you uncover some of the “unknown unknowns” and plan accordingly.

The foundation of a risk management program is a risk assessment (where you identify and analyze the risks). Through the process you decide if the risks are manageable or significant enough to change your plans. You may decide that your association is not ready to develop that new service until you gather the knowledge and resources needed to do it correctly.

Risk management is not only concerned about “unknown unknowns” but also the other two types of “knowns.” Among the “known knowns” which ones have you addressed? Is your business continuity plan current? Have you assessed and managed the risks associated with volunteers, people driving their cars on your behalf, or employee theft? Employment-related incidents still plaque associations, so what’s the condition of your employee handbook and supervisory training?

“Known unknowns” often cloud our decision-making. Social media terrified many associations because it was a big unknown. Some associations decided to identify, analyze and manage the risks while others just stayed away or prohibited its employees from participating. My assessment of social media risks determined it was manageable and the greatest business risk was to not participate in social media.

You can only be ready to respond to outcomes (good or bad) of a potential event if you have identified what could go wrong (or right) and what you are going to do to try to prevent or respond to the event. Jump in and explore both the “knowns” and “unknowns” to advance your association.

For full disclosure, I am not an insurance agent or broker (tried it for six months, not a good fit) but assist clients in managing their property and liability insurance programs including broker selection. I always answer insurance questions by telling people how important it is to have a knowledgeable, qualified insurance agent to safeguard their association or nonprofit.

Why is a good insurance agent so important? Because associations and nonprofits depend upon their property and liability insurance program to protect their organizational assets. An uninsured fire, auto accident, employment-related allegation, liability claim or lawsuit can bankrupt an organization. For something so important to your organization’s well-being it’s surprising how little time some executives spend on choosing their insurance professional.

For whatever reason, most association executives do not consider their insurance agent as a valuable, trusted business partner. Many are quick to call an attorney but rarely remember to call the agent to discuss the insurance implications of opening a new office or moving, having remote employees, buying a new vehicle, introducing a new program, product, service or event, or before signing a contract. Your insurance agent can’t advise you if you don’t keep him or her informed. No one wants an uninsured claim especially if insurance was available but not purchased.

Here’s what I think is important in judging and selecting your insurance agent or broker.

• Knowledge of Industry – Associations and nonprofits are unique so the agency should have extensive experience with that sector.
• Account Team Qualifications – Remember the person you see is the “producer,” the sales person. Find out about the “back room”, the people working on your account.
• Knowledge of Account – How much do they know about your organization? Have they done any research or just providing generic information about their services?
• Account Handling
  • Responsiveness – How quickly do they respond to your calls or emails?
  • Timeliness – Are they there even when you don’t know you need them? Set up pre-renewal meeting, account reviews, claims issues, etc.
  • Credibility – Do you believe them? Do you trust them?
  • Commitment – Willing to do what it takes to meet your needs?
  • Claims Handling – Are claims handled promptly? Are they your advocate?
  • Accuracy – Insurance companies are notorious for issuing policies incorrectly. Is the account team catching the errors? Doing what you asked? Is their proposal error-free?
  • Results – Are you getting the results you want and deserve? Price is a poor method of evaluating your coverage and your broker. A very low price may mean extremely poor coverage and/or service.

My advice is to conduct a broker selection process rather than have multiple brokers get quotations for your account. In June 2007 I wrote How Many Agents? Bidding Your Insurance, an article about selecting an insurance broker.  Your insurance program is too important to your association’s survival to be left to the person with the best sales technique or returns your calls quickly.

April 11^th is National Volunteer Week and Peggy Hoffman’s post, Someone Tell Associations it is National Volunteer Week, got me thinking. She highlighted the differences between community-serving organizations’ and associations’ view of volunteers. Most community-serving organizations (nonprofits) are celebrating the week with activities and recognition of their volunteers while only a few associations are acknowledging it. Since Peggy wrote her post, ASAE issued a thank you as a part of the annual call for volunteers (you’re welcome). Also the weekly Twitter “Association Chat” (#assnchat) focused on association volunteer management this week.

My risk management consulting career began working almost exclusively with nonprofit organizations. While at the Nonprofit Risk Management Center (an organization that provides risk management assistance and resources for community-serving nonprofit organizations), I spent a lot of time addressing volunteer risk management issues and solutions. I wrote articles and books, helped develop online training programs, presented workshops and training and provided technical assistance to nonprofits of all sizes.

Nonprofits view volunteer management as a profession. Volunteer managers have created international, national and local associations and at least one certification program (Council of Certification in Volunteer Administration). Because volunteerism is so important in the United States, quasi-governmental organizations and other private-public partnership such as Corporation for National and Community Services (CNCS) and Points of Light Institute were created to improve volunteer management. Through CNCS, every state has a council on volunteerism and many communities have volunteer centers that are a clearinghouse to match people with volunteer opportunities.

Formal nonprofit volunteer management grew out of concern for the safety and well-being of both service recipients and volunteers (I see everything through the prism of risk). There are risks associated with using volunteers (and program employees) that are not a consideration for associations. Nonprofit volunteers provide direct services to clients and participants who are vulnerable (youth, elderly, victims of violence, have disabilities, or sick) and need to be protected. Volunteers also have to be safe from harm by the clients or the nature of their service (construction, conservation, clean-ups). Volunteer selection (especially screening), training and supervision is key to a nonprofit’s success since having the wrong person in a position can have awful consequences. Association volunteers don’t face the same risks so the need for volunteer management is not being driven by risk management considerations.

Associations need volunteers to prosper and achieve their mission but few have a dedicated volunteer manager. Each department that uses volunteers is responsible for its own volunteers.  Often these people have little training or experience in managing volunteers so the volunteer experience can vary greatly within an association depending upon the staff liaison.

One exception is the component or chapter relations professionals (CRPs). CRPs are responsible for managing chapter leaders most of who are volunteers. However CRPs are also accountable for how chapters operate and perform. The dual function of a component relations person’s job (volunteer and program management) is challenging. In contrast, nonprofits separate volunteer management from program management.

My point is it’s time for associations to professionalize (is that a word?) its management of volunteers. Everybody says volunteers are important so isn’t it time for associations to commit more resources to managing this precious asset? We can learn (steal) from the nonprofit sector while developing a body of knowledge for association volunteer managers. So who’s in? What can your association do to improve its management of volunteers?

And don’t forget to thank your volunteers – not just during National Volunteer Week but every day as they go about the important business of your association.

While it is true in the United States anyone can sue anybody for any reason whether or not the case has merit but you should not fear every liability exposure. Filing a claim or lawsuit is not the same as winning although insurance companies spend a lot of money defending you for such claims which is why you buy insurance. But having insurance does not negate your need to assess and manage your risks.

Understanding liability and negligence will help with your risk assessment efforts. I am not an attorney so I view liability from an insurance and risk management perspective. Consult with your legal counsel on the law but remember an attorney’s opinion is just one factor to consider in your analysis. You can manage most liability risks if you’re willing to expend the time and resources to do so.

Liability

Society considers a person or organization liable when an individual is legally responsible for damages (financial consequences) due to negligence. Not all types of liability (such as criminal, statutory or strict) require the presence of negligence but that is what worries association executives the most.

Negligence

You are deemed negligent when you fail to perform the standard of care that society expects of a reasonable person under similar circumstances. “Negligence is an unintentional of a legal duty causing damage reasonably foreseeable without which breach the damage would not have occurred” (van der Smissen, Betty, Legal Liability and Risk Management for Public and Private Entities, (Anderson Publishing Company, Cincinnati, 1990, p. 65).

Standard of Care

Negligence is tricky because your actions are judged by the “standard of care” a reasonable person would exercise. There is no Standard of Care Manual detailing society’s expectations for your behavior a judge or jury decides if you are negligent by what they think you should have done. Many attorneys argue against associations setting standards or best practices since the association is possibly creating the standard of care required of your industry or profession.

Reasonable Person

The “reasonable person” is another ambiguous term defined by the judge or jury. The standard is based upon what someone with the same level of training and experience would do under similar circumstances. Your actions are judged by what another person with similar training and experience would have done in that situation. A doctor is held to a higher standard than someone with basic first aid training.

Elements of Negligence

A negligent act has to meet four elements for the claimant to be successful. If any one of these elements is missing you aren’t negligent.

• Existence of a duty – You must have a duty of care to the person injured. If you have no duty, you can’t be negligent. Entire books have been written and endless court cases cited to define the legal tenets of duty of care. In most cases an association will have some type of duty to its employees and members.
• Breach of duty – You have to breach or violate your duty of care to another person. You can do something wrong, do nothing, or you do the right thing incorrectly. Negligence involves sins of both of omission and commission.
• Actual harm or damage – The other person has to suffer some type of injury or harm. As the saying goes “No harm, no foul.”
• Reasonably close relationship between the breach and harm – The breach of duty has to be the proximate cause of the harm. There needs to be a direct causal relationship between the breach and harm. Your failure to check the driving record of someone driving on your behalf may be the proximate cause of an auto accident when the driver has an unsatisfactory driving record.

Your defense attorney will contend the claimant has not met these four elements of negligence while the plaintiff attorney will dispute those arguments.

Now What?

Now you have a rudimentary knowledge of negligence to use when assessing risks. Before you dismiss or go blindly into a new idea, program, and product or service consider the nature and potential consequences of the exposure. Liability is a major concern for associations. The key is to decide the desired level of risk and whether you can mitigate the risk, modify the activity, to make it acceptable in an effective and cost-effective way. Too many good ideas can be lost because no one took the time to evaluate and manage the risks.

An insurance policy is a puzzle I need to solve, figure out what is or is not covered. However the puzzle’s complexity  keeps increasing. Prior to 1986, policies were rather straightforward but with “ policy simplification” the size of policies increased exponentially. A package or portfolio policy might have been 50 pages or so but now I am reviewing a 232 page package with only property and general liability coverages (imagine if it also included business auto and crime). The client’s other policies range from 50 to 150 pages long. No wonder no one reads their insurance policies. Even if you did read it would you understand it?  

The insurance companies don’t even know what their policies cover or exclude. Too often anything other than a simple straightforward claim (e.g., auto physical damage) requires you and your insurance agent to argue with the claims adjuster about coverage. The rate of changes to policies has gone into hyper-drive so it is hard for the adjusters and underwriters to stay current. They are behind the curve as insurance companies (like many organizations) dramatically cut their training dollars.

So what does this mean to you? Insurance policies are complex so you have to depend upon your insurance agent, broker or consultant for advice. But don’t be a passive partner in this insurance relationship, you need to know what you are buying and why. Take the time to meet with your insurance professional and review the association’s operations, programs and services of your association or nonprofit.  The agent can’t recommend a coverage if she doesn’t know about a new program so keep her in the information loop when developing new initiatives. I know you are busy but insurance is the backbone of your risk management program – your association’s survival may depend upon it. So talk to your insurance professional every once in a while and not just at renewal time. It will be good for both of you.

The disturbing message I heard was that a facility needs lots of policies and procedures but shouldn’t write them down. The speaker while discussing the need for a policy for handling children using the facilities, said to have a policy, make sure all employees know it but don’t write it down. What? How do you run a business, association or nonprofit without having written policies and procedures especially on children? How will your employees and volunteers know how to do their jobs?

The theory behind this “no written policy” belief is that if your policy says that employees must do X you have created a standard or duty of care. If the employee didn’t do X and someone got hurt the organization has breached its duty and may be liable. BUT if you don’t have a policy then you don’t have a duty to perform (not true). Consequently without a standard you can’t breach it and without a breach of duty you can’t be liable. Interesting theory but it’s not practical in the real world.

Policies are a double-edged sword. Your policy may create a standard of care which exceeds the basic requirements and put you at risk. However whether you have a policy or not society has its own opinion on the expected duty of care. Your behavior during a loss will be examined on the legal concept of the “reasonable or prudent person.” Under the prudent person rule the court will judge your behavior against the conduct of a hypothetical prudent person with similar background and experience under similar circumstances. So the legal system will get you either way. In the extreme, a court could rule that it was negligent to not have a policy for handling certain types of situations especially if similar organizations have established policies to address the issue. For example, the public expects organizations serving children to have a staff screening program. If your organization doesn’t have a screening program, your defense is a lot harder since the plaintiff’s attorney will argue a prudent organization would have such a program. Aside from the legal aspects, don’t you want to protect children from predators?

The issue isn’t whether or not you should have written policies, procedures and guidelines (you should) but that these documents need to be written properly. You don’t want your policies to exceed but rather meet the prudent person standard. Once you decide the need for a policy, it should:

• Support your organizational culture and values so the information is somewhat intuitive.
• Be practical and enforceable (and you enforce it).
• Be flexible so you have some discretion in interpreting the policy and the proper discipline.
• Be consistent throughout the organization.

Once you have written the policy you need to design a training and education program to make sure all personnel know and understand the policy. It is really bad to have a policy that no one follows – the plaintiff’s attorney love that since you just made it easier for them to win.

So my risk management advice is to have well-written policies and monitor their usefulness and enforcement. Don’t be afraid to change or drop a policy that isn’t working. Your employees, volunteers, members, customers, clients and service recipients will benefit from your efforts.