With the high profile cases in the news today and in the past year alone, the need for risk management services is on the national radar more than ever before. The majority of our nation’s educational institutions, outside of purchasing the appropriate insurance policies, aren’t equipped with the resources, necessary education or even knowledge of how to protect themselves against certain risks.
Take for instance the national media frenzy with the proven claims against key individuals of a nationally recognized university and its football program. The trial led to the overwhelming increase of headlined news related to such criminal actions of campus role models. The university’s failure to protect students from abuse resulted mainly from the lack of enforcement or existence of proper risk management procedures and controls. Organizations that interact with minors, such as educational institutions and youth associations, need to protect themselves from unintentional and intentional acts and inappropriate conduct of their educators, coaches and other staff members. The fact that these issues have become so magnified and evident to the public due to this scandal should amplify the focus on the potential risks and the need for the implementation of necessary risk mitigation strategies.
Along with the surge of claim activity and litigation resulting from behavioral misconduct, the need for risk management services, appropriate insurance coverages and aggressive loss control has risen drastically. Having an independent risk management advisor on your team can mitigate the risk of financial, physical and reputational loss that can result from the inappropriate and/or criminal behavior of institution or association’s staff. Educational institutions need to be adequately advised on how to properly identify and analyze industry related risks, implement loss prevention techniques, handle claims management and translate insurance policy wording. Proper training, supervision & evaluation of educational professionals and key leaders of organizations, in addition to incident investigations and appropriate reporting procedures can help protect the safety of our nation’s youth while in the presence of educators across the county.
Taking a proactive approach to risk management is, in and of itself, “good risk management” – We encourage companies to form a Risk Committee amongst senior leadership to support communication and increased awareness. Having a formal group of the senior leaders getting together with a purpose periodically (once a month would be suggested at first) will ultimately lead to a more mature risk management framework and better transparency on issues that can impact the organization’s Total Cost of Risk (TCoR).
If you would like to learn more about how The ALS Group can support your organization with Risk Committee formation or establishing a more formal risk management process please feel free to contact our Managing Principal, Albert Sica at 732.395.4250 or [email protected].
