Supervisors – the Front Line of Your Risk Management Culture

Interested in helping your agency’s risk management culture gain a stronghold throughout your organization? Then you’ll want to involve all your supervisors — not just your Safety Coordinator or Risk Manager — in PDRMA’s new class, A Supervisor’s Role in Managing Risk in Parks and Recreation, debuting Sept. 8.

Duane Smith, Recreation Supervisor at Mokena Community Park District, previewed the class and found the course’s discussion of the importance of risk management and taking risks to be helpful. “Park district professionals and their agencies want to be safe and protected from liability, but that can be a challenge when deciding on programs for patrons,” says Smith, who also participates in a networking group for Safety Coordinators and Risk Managers. “The key is finding balance between the two.”

Smith notes that the common risk management culture topics he hears from his peers in the networking group include insurance certificates, contractor agreements and workplace hazards for employees. “The supervisor’s role is to educate staff and program affiliates about the importance of the safety requirements. I believe buy in and staff follow through are the biggest initiatives for supervisors, who are the glue that brings everything together in an effective risk management culture. Supervisors must recognize the risks and use their education and creativity to manage it, which is what this course helps us do.”

According to Russ Litko, Oak Lawn Park District Ice Arena Manager, a crucial responsibility for supervisors is combating complacency. “This class brings the topics of safety and risk management back to the forefront,” he comments. “Safety is one of those things that’s easily forgotten when there is a lull in incidents.

“There’s inherent risk in participating in certain activities,” he adds, “but developing risk mitigation strategies can allow supervisors to organize programs that help form the risk tolerance for the agency. By addressing the issues head on, supervisors not only acknowledge the possibility of an accident, but thoroughly disclose how they will attempt to prevent accidents.”