|
by Edward A. Schirick, C.P.C.U., C.I.C.,
C.R.M.
Is risk management simply theoretical and academic, or does it have
a practical use? Assuming the practice of risk management is useful
and practical, can its usefulness be demonstrated?
Fact Versus Perception
According to the New York State Health Department,
the most common sports injury at camps in New York
State in 2008 was fracture. Basketball leads the way (for the third
year in a row) with the most fractures followed by soccer, and in a
tie for third place football and baseball.
Nearly two-thirds of all
basketball injuries in 2008 were fractures. The
typical injury involved the hand or wrist and fingers. Other injuries
included cuts, dislocations, head and neck injury, concussion, and eye
injury.
This fact was surprising, because foot and ankle injuries were
the most common injuries in my personal experience
(my son Mike played basketball competitively for ten years including
four years in college).
The Value of the Bigger Picture — Help Create It!
As I pondered the difference
between the facts surrounding basketball injuries
at New York camps from the summer of 2008 and my perceptions from my
son’s personal
experience, I was reminded how important statistics are in the risk
management process at camp. If I was a camp director and relied upon
my own personal experience to develop my risk management plan for basketball,
I would have created an inadequate program.
Statistics wasn’t
my favorite class in school, and I know that many people’s eyes “glaze
over” at the mere mention of the word. Through my risk management
training, I’ve learned the value of statistics and how statistics
can contribute to a bigger picture. As a result, I want to encourage
every camp (American Camp Association [ACA] accredited and non-accredited
camp) to participate in ACA’s Healthy Camp Study in 2010, its
final year.
The goals of the Healthy Camp Study are: a) benchmark camp
injuries and illness; b) identify points at which
intervention might reduce injury-illness events; and c) identify health
promotion strategies that reduce the injury-illness experience. The
Healthy Camp Study has already provided researchers with valuable nuggets
of information concerning the types of illnesses and injuries campers
and staff experience at camp as well as insight into frequency and severity.
When the study is complete, we expect the data will also point to patterns
and shed light on how camps can manage risk more effectively. This is
especially valuable as we face new illness risks in strains of “bugs” like
the H1N1 virus.
Participation couldn’t be easier. Visit www.ACAcamps.org/research/.
There is a small investment of time, but there
are no other costs to participating camps. Your
participation will help make a difference in the
long run.
Do You Have Control of Your Own Information?
An incident and accident reporting/recording procedure
is an essential part of risk management. Not only
does this process provide valuable feedback for
your risk management plan it may be helpful in
complying with your responsibilities under workers
compensation laws and with the accident reporting requirements
of auto and camp premises liability policies.
Directors
should consider establishing a procedure for accident
and incident reporting if one is not already in place. Every accident
resulting in injury to campers and staff should be recorded no matter
how minor the injury. The same is true for near misses. Promptness is
essential while the incident is fresh in everyone’s
minds.
Every accident and near miss — if properly recorded, investigated,
and reviewed — provides opportunity to prevent recurrence through
corrective action. Maintaining this information
in an organized database over time presents the
opportunity to put risk management into action
in a practical way. This practice allows directors
to compare their camp’s performance
to benchmarks, such as those being developed in
the Healthy Camp Study, or those available from
some state health departments.
Accident and Incident
Investigation
Whether the injured party is a camper
or staff, accident investigation requires discretion
and care to protect the person’s
privacy. Seek the facts without attempting to find
blame. We all know that sometimes accidents just
happen. But, typically accidents involve unsafe
But, typically accidents involve unsafe acts, unsafe
conditions, unsafe equipment and facilities, or
some combination of these circumstances.
ACA has
an Accident/Incident Report Form (FM-01) which
is available from the ACA
Bookstore.
A package of one hundred copies of this form is
available free to each ACA member. Whether you
use the ACA Accident/Incident Form or develop your
own, a consistent disciplined approach will work
best.
Gathering Information
Basically an accident investigation will
focus on who, when, where, what, and how. Gather
information about who was involved, including name(s) of injured parties,
staff, and witnesses; list everyone’s
addresses and how they can be contacted if necessary
in the future.
The investigation will seek to establish
when the accident/incident occurred — time
of the day can be a factor in contributing to certain
accidents and injuries. uting to certain accidents
and injuries. Where the accident or incident occurred
is important for taking corrective actions and
for identifying consistent patterns of accident
frequency.
This includes what activity the injured
party was engaged in, any equipment being used,
the availability of personal protective equipment
and if it was being used. How did the injury occur?
Identify any unsafe conditions, equipment, or acts
that may have caused or contributed to the injury.
Include a description of the injury and a description
of the injured body part along with any recommendation
to reduce the risk of a recurrence of the accident to conclude the investigation.
Separate Claim Reporting from Accident/Incident
Reporting
Don’t
confuse the proposed voluntary accident/incident
recording procedure as a feedback mechanism to
judge the effectiveness of your risk management
plan with your contractual obligation to report
to your camp’s
insurers certain serious injuries and circumstances
that may develop into claims in the future. These
are two separate processes with different reporting
criteria. different reporting criteria.
Most insurers
have criteria for reporting accidents resulting
in serious injury or death of campers, and other
camper accidents which have potential for developing
into a future claim. Typically, directors are asked
to report injuries to their insurance companies
that involve broken bones, head injuries, unconsciousness,
and injuries requiring off-site medical treatment
in an emergency room, doctor’s
office, or urgent care center. Near misses, where
no injury results, usually don’t have to be reported to insurers
except when the incident is a near drowning. Most
insurers require incidents of physical and/or sexual
abuse or molestation be reported as soon as you
become aware of them.
If you are uncertain about
your insurer’s
requirements for reporting claims and potential
claims on your camp’s
auto and premises liability insurance, check with
your insurance broker or company representative.
Workers Compensation
Accidental injuries to staff
involving lost time and medical treatment must
be reported to your Camp’s
Workers be reported to your Camp’s
Workers Compensation insurer. Failure to file these
reports on a timely basis can result in administrative
fines.
Every state’s law is
different so check with your insurance broker or
company representative for the requirements in
the state where your camp is located.
Serious Injuries
Serious accidents resulting in multiple injuries
or serious injuries to an individual may call for
a different approach to accident investigation.
Under these circumstances, directors should contact
their insurance brokers or their insurer’s
claim departments immediately. If an accident is
deemed serious by the appropriate claim professionals,
a decision to conduct the investigation in a privileged
and confidential manner through outside resources
could pre-empt your regular accident investigation
process. Seek guidance on this issue from your
insurance advisors.
Risk Management Rules
Remember
the five steps in the risk management process?
These principles guide us in nearly everything
we do. guide us in nearly everything we do.
- Identify the risks.
- Analyze and evaluate
each risk (who might be hurt, what might be damaged,
when, how, where?).
- Establish controls — decide
on prevention and precaution.
- Establish your
plan and implement it.
- Review regularly for
effectiveness and update it — constant
improvement.
Step five’s
focus is feedback on the effectiveness of your
plan. An accident/incident reporting program is
one of the best ways to determine the effectiveness
of your risk management plan. This is truly risk
management in action!
Originally published in the 2009 November/December
issue of Camping Magazine.
|
