risk management

Each year, more than 200,000 children go to U.S. hospital emergency rooms with injuries associated with playground equipment. Most injuries occur when a child falls from the equipment onto the ground. The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) provides the following checklist for public playground safety. Use it regularly to help make sure your local community or school playground is a safe place to play.

Public Playground Safety Checklist

In recent years New Hampshire has seen its share of tragedy and disaster. One of the positive aspects of these events has been a renewed interest in volunteerism. At the local level, our citizens assist their communities in every aspect of civic life, including the provision of municipal services. New Hampshire also has resources at the state level to encourage and support volunteerism. The Volunteer NH! organization has placed information, tools and training resources on the Web at www.volunteernh.org.

New Hampshire Local Government Center’s (LGC) Safety Working Around Traffic or SWAT Team will soon be roaming Granite State roads on the lookout to find Member Group employees who are safely working around traffic. Our mission is to reward work zone crews for doing so.

By Al “Butch" Burbank and Chief Jeff Nelson

By Ronald O’Keefe

Even the most proactive of fire chiefs can use a little review from time to time regarding enforcing safety procedures. As a 27-year firefighter, 16 years spent as a chief officer and seven as chief of the department, I feel qualified to offer solid advice on the subject. Especially since my present career in risk management focuses on making fire departments and firefighters safer. So consider this article a serious wake-up call.

There is, perhaps, no area of risk management that is more technically complex than employment liability—and the exposure is exactly the same no matter what the size of the community. Legal and human resource professionals advise that sound policies and procedures be in place and properly implemented. These policies must be in compliance with a veritable alphabet soup of federal and state laws and administered in fairness and with consistency.

Is your town, city or school hosting outside organizations for summer programs this season in your facilities? If so, you will want to get facility use agreements and/or releases that incorporate indemnity clauses signed with these organizations. Also, be sure you inspect and document the condition of your facilities and playgrounds prior to allowing outside organizations access to them.

Checklist for Risk Reduction
You can reduce your risk by implementing a special events policy that includes, but is not limited to, the following:

We all assume that background checks are being done on teachers, summer day camp counselors and nursing home staff in order to protect our children and vulnerable adult populations. Are these checks being done on all staff who work for schools, municipal recreation departments and elder care facilities? Are the checks being done on volunteer staff or just employees?

Festivals, events and holiday celebrations add to community spirit and are quite popular in New Hampshire towns, cities and schools. But liability exposures are often overlooked in the process of organizing these events. Your liability exposures from special events can be greatly reduced by carefully analyzing your risks prior to coordinating your celebration.

By Ron O’Keefe

Vehicle backup cameras—are they a worthwhile investment or a luxury during tough economic times? A backup camera is a special type of video camera that is specifically produced to aid in the backing up of a vehicle by being attached to its rear section. It is also known as a “reversing camera" or “rear view camera."

Avoid a Collision