Mitigation of risk
To mitigate risks:Â
1. Develop plans, policies and procedures so your team knows what to do in a risky situation. For example:
- Create a standard risk assessment template for organising and running events (outdoors and indoors)
- Create a procedure that should be followed if a young person or an adult at risk gets hurt.
- Create a policy that explains how to build a partnership with an external community organisation.
2. Define the limits of staff decision-making. For example:
- how much money can your senior staff spend on one item before they have to ask the governing body if it’s ok?
- What changes can be made to a budget without the approval of the governing body?
Tips for minimising liability
- Act within scope of governing policies—they’re there for a reason
- Comply with laws, rules and regulations that apply to work and group structure (incl. Legal status)
- Protect assets
- Provide reliable accounting and documentation
- Take steps to protect third parties from harm or damage caused by your activities (insurance)
Accept Risks
- To justify taking a risk, the opportunity must outweigh the cost
- If you have policies and processes in place to manage risk (transfer and mitigate) then you know when to accept a risk.
Question: can you think of a risk that you are likely to accept?
