This chapter discusses risk management for emergency services. It defines risk management as having five parts: identifying risks, evaluating risks, establishing priorities, controlling risks, and monitoring risks. The chapter covers identifying risks through local experience, trends, safety audits, and previous injury reviews. It also discusses evaluating risks based on frequency and severity. Risk control involves avoidance, reduction through tools like cause-effect diagrams and the Haddon matrix, and transfer through insurance.

1. Occupational Safety and Health
for Emergency Services
Fourth Edition
Chapter 3 — Risk Management

2. Objectives
At the conclusion of this chapter you will be able to:
‣ Define risk.
‣ Define risk management.
‣ Discuss the meaning of and the process for risk
identification.
‣ Discuss the meaning of and the process for risk
evaluation.
‣ Discuss the meaning of and the process for risk control.

3. ‣ Discuss the use of a cause-and-effect diagram.
‣ Explain the process of interrupting the accident
sequence.
‣ Discuss the components and use of the Haddon
matrix.
‣ Differentiate between passive and active, and
voluntary and mandatory risk reduction strategies.
‣ Apply risk control strategies to an injury problem.
Objectives

4. Introduction
‣ Risk management consists of five tasks:
1) Risk identification
2) Risk evaluation
3) Establishment of priorities for action
4) Risk control
5) Risk management monitoring

5. Risk Identification
‣ A risk is anything bad that could happen
‣ Risk identification is complex
– Requires predicting what could happen
‣ Identification should include:
– A number of sources
– Reference to local and national experiences

6. Local Experience
‣ Historical incident data
‣ Question responders
‣ Identify future risk
‣ Road expansions
‣ Industrial/commercial
occupancies
‣ New or remodeled buildings
‣ Changes that are likely to
occur in the community Courtesy of James Angle.

7. Identification of Trends
‣ Emerging trends
‣ Reading trade journals
‣ Searching the Internet
‣ Attending conferences and seminars
‣ Trend analysis
‣ Current risks
‣ Identification of future risks

8. Safety Audit
‣ Checking for compliance
‣ Audit should be based on a checklist
‣ NFPA 1500
‣ Deficiencies are noted
‣ Associated risks are identified
‣ Safety audits can be performed by:
‣ In-house safety staff
‣ Outside safety consultant

9. Review of Previous Injury Experience (1 of 2)
‣ Past statistics
‣ Review may include:
‣ Injury reports
‣ Workers’ compensation history
‣ OSHA illness/injury logs

10. Review of Previous Injury Experience (2 of 2)
‣ Risk categories may include:
‣ Response
‣ In-station training
‣ Fire or EMS emergency
‣ Natural or man-made disasters
‣ Hazardous materials incidents

11. Risk Evaluation
‣ Two risk management terms
‣ Frequency
‣ Severity

12. Frequency
‣ How often a risk is likely to occur
‣ No rule for what is acceptable
‣ Subjective measure
‣ High, medium, or low rating
‣ Benchmark the local experience compared to:
‣ Nationwide
‣ Similar-sized organizations

13. Severity (1 of 2)
‣ A measurement of how great the loss or consequences
of the loss will be
‣ Cost
‣ Direct
‣ Medical treatment
‣ Overtime
‣ Indirect
‣ Loss of productivity
‣ Morale

14. Severity (2 of 2)
‣ Organizational impact
‣ Depends on size of department
‣ Time it would take to recover
‣ Rehire personnel
‣ Replace an emergency vehicle

15. Establishment of Priorities for Action
‣ Evaluation is crucial
‣ There is seldom enough time, money, or resources
‣ Frequency and severity combined
‣ Determine priorities
‣ Helps the program manager

16. Risk Control
‣ Three broad categories
‣ Risk avoidance
‣ Risk reduction
‣ Risk transfer
Courtesy of Craig Maciuba, Fire Chief, Palm Harbor Fire Rescue.

17. Risk Avoidance
‣ Not usually an option
‣ Nature of the profession
‣ Things have already gone wrong
‣ Some risks can be successfully avoided
‣ Policy is developed
‣ Procedure is followed
‣ Changes are made for the future

18. Risk Reduction (1 of 4)
‣ Cause-and-effect diagrams
‣ Ishikawa diagrams or fishbone diagrams

19. Risk Reduction (2 of 4)
‣ Interrupting the accident sequence
‣ View the injury process as a series of interruptible events
‣ Five factors of the accident

20. Risk Reduction (3 of 4)
‣ The Haddon matrix
‣ Four components of the injury process
‣ Three time intervals

21. Risk Reduction (4 of 4)
‣ Risk reduction measures can be:
‣ Passive or active
‣ Voluntary or mandatory

22. Risk Transfer
‣ Commonly associated with insurance policies
‣ Workers’ compensation insurance
‣ Management liability insurance
‣ General liability insurance
‣ Vehicle insurance