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| Function: |
Regulations |
| Policy: |
3-50 Risk Management |
| CMHO Standard(s): |
P.*A.2.1, M.*I.1.1, M.I.1.11 |
| Approved: |
February 2009 |
3-50 RISK MANAGEMENT
Approved February 2009
POLICY
St. Leonard’s Community Services recognizes that risks may occur in any number of areas on any given occasion. The Agency will take all reasonable precautions to plan for and prevent those risks from occurring. For the purposes of this policy, risks can be classified into five main categories:
- People – clients, volunteers, staff, donors, the public;
- Property – financial resources including sales, grants, contributions related to equipment, buildings, vehicles; intellectual property such as copyrights and trademarks; electronic property such as donor lists, staff, client and financial records;
- Income – anything that threatens the Agency’s sources of revenue, including its relationship with funders and/or donors;
- Goodwill – including reputation, stature in the community, and public trust which, in turn, jeopardizes ability to raise funds and successfully recruit prospective staff or volunteers in the future; and,
- Liability – any form of legal action that arises, often as the secondary consequence of any of the above types of harms and losses, e.g., criminal, civil, vicarious.
The Board of Directors, management and staff are encouraged to look at risk management from the perspective of what could happen and then put appropriate plans in place to prevent or minimize those risks from materializing. To ensure that plans are put in place, the Agency will document all steps taken to identify and plan for risks within the categories identified above.
DEFINITIONS
Risk is an uncertainty about a future event that threatens an organization’s ability to accomplish its mission. It is an abstract concept that often does not convey its full capacity to cause havoc. It is only when the risk materializes into actual harm that its full impact is felt and understood.
Risk Management is a means of dealing with the possibility that some future event will cause harm. It involves a process of not just looking for trouble but looking for solutions that make the Agency more effective. It is reasonable measures being reasonably applied.
PROCEDURE
The Agency will have a risk management team consisting of representatives from management and staff as well as the Board of Directors. The team will meet regularly to identify possible areas of risk, to propose suitable plans to prevent those risks and to ensure appropriate policies and procedures are in place to address possible areas of risk, using the five categories of risks listed above as a guide. The team will ensure that adequate minutes and other documentation are prepared in order to show the steps that have been taken to address each possible area of risk.
As part of the process when considering either new programs or significant changes to existing programs, a risk potential review will be undertaken. As well, anyone who becomes aware of a possible risk to the Agency is directed to make that concern known to the risk management team by providing as much detail in writing as possible about the potential risk and the reasons for the concern. The team will review all such submissions and make any recommendations to the management and Board, including policy statements or revisions, to address the risk. All action taken will be recorded in the minutes of the risk management team meetings.
In order to identify and address possible areas of risk, the team will make use of a system such as that outlined in the “Risk Management Workbook” from Linda Graff and Associates Inc.
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