Event Risk Management Audit
Background
Hosting a successful sport event involves exposure to potential risk. Minimizing risk during your events helps to avoid possible injuries, damages, legal consequences, and a negative participant experience. It can also lead to many positive event outcomes and enhance the reputation of your entire organization. We recommend that organizations conduct a specialized event risk management audit for their events, to maximize their event potential and elevate their standard of care. Organizations should also consider a further emergency preparedness plan to address the high-level risks within their sport.
What is an event risk management audit?
The audit is a comprehensive review and analysis of your event policies, procedures, and practices. Its goal is to identify and mitigate all risks that influence your ability to achieve desired outcomes. These risks can include poor communication, conflicts of interest, improper resource allocation, limited finances, and other influencers that can lead to loss of revenues, sponsorship, staff, intellectual property, and reputation. The audit goes through three main stages:
- Identify the risks: risks are identified through extensive review and consultation. They are then categorized into several pillars to make them more manageable. Where multiple sport disciplines apply, risks can be further grouped into common risks and activity-inherent risks. Key risk exposures and underlying themes are also revealed.
- Analyze the risks: we use an ISO certified risk assessment tool to determine the possibility of a risk occurring and the consequence if it does. This leads to a risk assessment score and determines a degree of prioritization for the organization’s event risks. Risk assessment scores and treatment measures (see below) are captured in an event risk registry.
- Treat the risks: the event’s current treatment measures are compared to existing and relevant industry standards, future measures and risk management strategies are introduced, and recommendations are made to elevate the standard of care. New tools are also developed to mitigate risk, such as a customized emergency response plan.
An extension of the event risk management audit is an emergency preparedness plan (EPP). The EPP focuses on event specific risks that are considered to be emergencies – the ones that constitute a danger of catastrophic consequences, that could result in serious harm to people or cause widespread damage to property. The EPP clearly communicates the intentions, scope and responsibilities of your organization in terms of participant safety and well-being. It further provides general safety guidelines related to equipment, hazardous material and event protocols that are specific to your sport.
What is the impact of an event risk management audit?
The audit is a formal commitment by an organization to implement, monitor, and evaluate risk treatment strategies for its events. It will provide you with a map and a compass for an effective risk management program, it will elevate your standard of care and it will help you better achieve your desired objectives. Furthermore, the audit is framed in a manner that is consistent with your corporate values and aligned with any overall risk management work that SLSG may have already conducted with your organization.
As leaders in your sport, you are looked up to in many ways, including the establishment of industry standards as it pertains to event safety and risk management. As well, all sports have an accountability to their participants to ensure that, when an emergency occurs at their event, they are reasonably prepared to respond, protect and provide a positive outcome to a potentially dangerous situation. By investing in an event risk management audit, and via an emergency preparedness plan, you can position your sport as an industry leader and turn potential pitfalls into success stories.
Contact Us
Jason Robinson
[email protected]
416-988-5764
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