Risk Management is a necessity for every organisation. Although it may seem complex and time consuming, developing a comprehensive risk management plan is essential for a range of reasons. A well-developed risk management plan can assist organisations by:
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Helping to reduce injuries and accidents
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Ensuring compliance with legal and financial obligations
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Helping acquire insurance at lower premiums by showing your organisation is serious about controlling risks
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Helping limit potential litigation if you can prove your organisation has taken all reasonable steps to manage risks.
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Helping staff and volunteers understand, and more effectively perform their roles.
No risk management plan, no matter how much effort went into it’s preparation or how impressive it’s documentation, will have any influence on improving safety unless it is actually put into effective use at the coalface. Your risk management policy must be easily understood, user friendly, and accessible to all. A document that is unnecessarily cumbersome and lengthy, or is difficult to find or understand, is unlikely to be used.
Included below are documents designed to assist sport and active recreation organisations better understand risks and risk management, and to develop appropriate policies and procedures for managing risk.
Click on the link below to view documents:
Insurance, Lease & Hire Agreements and Sport Injury Risk Management
Insurance, understanding lease and hire agreements, and sport injury risk management are all issues of specific importance for club's aiming to manage risks. A range of information in each of these specific areas is included in the following pages to assist clubs.
Click on the relevant tab in the left hand navigation pane for further information on these topics.
Online Risk Identifier
With the assistance of funding provided by Sport and Recreation Victoria, vicsport has developed an interactive online risk evaluation application to help sport and recreation groups develop comprehensive risk management plans.
The online risk evaluation application takes the user through a series of questions across 8 areas identified by the industry as areas of primary importance. These areas are:
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Governance: identifies risks associated with management and administration of an organisation and covers important operational areas such as board or committee of management structure and responsibilities, staff duties, financial and risk management plans and ethical standards for example.
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Insurance: encourages organisations to really ask the question “do our insurance policies fully cover our needs?” Insurance polices should be in place to help limit the impact of unexpected events. Finding out your policy didn’t cover your needs after the event can leave an organisation in serious financial difficulty.
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Administration, Planning and Finance: Deals with day-to-day operational and administration requirements, financial management practices, and longer term strategic planning.
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Physical Environment: deals with safety issues associated with any physical structures or grounds in which activities may take place including fields of play and surrounding areas, club rooms, change rooms, kitchens etc.
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Legal Obligations and industry standards: deals with the various external legislative and legal requirements organisations are expected to abide by.
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Human Resources: deals with issues regarding the rights and responsibilities of employers and employees, both paid and volunteer, and the provision of safe and enjoyable workplaces.
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Member Services: deals with issues related to specific member support, such as terms and conditions of membership, member protection policies and privacy rights.
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Sport Injury Risk Management: deals with the prevention and management of injuries. The nature of sport means there will always be some injuries; however, by taking appropriate steps organisation’s can limit the number, and severity, of injuries.
While vicsport's online risk management resource will not cover every risk associated with the running of your organisation, nor will working through the application make your organisation litigation proof, the issues covered in the risk management resource will certainly provide a sound from which an organisation can develop an appropriate risk management plan.
Developing a risk management plan isn’t an easy task. When you take into account the myriad of risk areas organisations are exposed to, it is little wonder risk management plans are often placed in the too hard or leave it for a rainy day basket. The reality however is in today’s highly litigious society, organisation’s cannot afford to leave risk management to chance, and the benefits of completing this process, to both your organisation and your members, make it well worth the time and effort.
vicsport's online Risk Identifier application is free to all sporting clubs. To access to site you must apply for a password via the vicsport office. For further information on the Online Risk Identifier click on the link below.
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