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future leaDers continued from page 35

■■ ■Risk Management for Park, Recre-

ation and Leisure Services, 2003.
By J.A. Peterson and B.B. Hronek.

Articles
(An internet search of the article
title and the author should bring
these right up)
■■ ■Risk Management for the Recreation Professional, 1993. By Rachel Corbett.
■■ ■Managing Risk in Recreation Programs, Facilities and Services,
2008. By Nancy B. White.

Professionals
specializing
in the ﬁeld
of risk Experts
Professionals specializing in the
management field of risk management can procan provide vide expert assistance to help you
expert apply concepts and theory to your
organization and your operations.
assistance They may be familiar with general
to help you risk management best practices,
apply regulation-driven requirements,
and the risk management proconcepts cess. Specialists include risk manand theory agers, insurance agents, legal
to your experts, and safety specialists. If
you work for a large organization,
organization each of these positions may be
and your held by a different individual; for
operations. smaller organizations, one person (or an outside consultant) may
perform all of these functions. In
either case, these professionals
are in a position to help you develop and implement risk assessments, inspections, audits, staff
training, or other risk control recommendations. If you are dealing
with outside consultants, ask what
services they might be willing to
offer free of charge to develop
their business with your agency.

Organizations
In addition to individual specialists, organizations devoted to
risk management offer a range
of helpful publications, training
options, resource libraries, and
membership services. Some

Parks & Recreation M A Y

2 0 1 2 w w w . N R P A . O R G

risk management organizations
require membership to access
their resources, while others offer
useful information to the general
public. If you are investigating a
particular issue, the staffs of these
organizations can be quite helpful in providing expert insight and
pointing you in the direction of additional resources. Some good examples are:
■■ ■Colorado Intergovernmental
Risk Sharing Agency. CIRSA
has great publications for purchase including Special Events
Handbook, Community Center
Handbook, Hazard Awareness,
and Loss Control Manual. http://
www.cirsa.org/
■■ ■ Park District Risk Management Agency (Illinois). PDRMA
manages risks and promotes wellness for more than 150 Illinois Park
Districts, Special Recreation Associations, Forest Preserve Districts, and Conservation Districts.
Extensive training and education
resources for members. https://
www.pdrma.org/
■■ ■ Public Risk Managers Association. PRIMA has one of the most
extensive online libraries of documents that I have ever seen. Their
" cybrary " is open only to members, but if your risk manager or
attorney has a membership, you
and your colleagues should log in
and take full advantage of those
member resources. http://www.
primacentral.org/
■■ ■ Municipal Services and Research Center of Washington.
The MSRC website has an entire,
publicly accessible section dedicated to parks and recreation resources: http://www.mrsc.org/
subjects/parks/.

Forums and Networks
Forums and networks offer excellent platforms for conversations and questions related to

risk management. Networks on
NRPA Connect can connect you
to thousands of other parks and
recreation professionals across
the country. Chances are pretty
good that if you have a risk management concern, someone else
out there has the same one, or
has perhaps dealt with a similar
situation before. Don't re-create
the wheel-ask your peers!

Continuing Education
Education and training are also
excel lent resou rces when it
comes to risk management. Local
colleges and universities, as well
as schools sponsored by government agencies and associations, may offer risk management
courses. Look for workshops, webinars, or eLearning opportunities offered by your state parks
and recreation agency, NRPA,
or other orga nizations mentioned in this article. Education
and training are critical to staying abreast of current trends and
best practices.
Experiment with these resources. One type of resource may
complement your learning style
well, while another may prove
better for addressing a specific
risk management issue. Still another type of resource may provide you with the best materials
for training your staff. Acquiring
competency with risk management does take time, but it doesn't
have to be a mystery.
KatHY CaPPs is the Grants and
Risk Manager for the Raleigh Parks
and Recreation Department in North
Carolina. She will be presenting a halfday pre-conference workshop on Risk
Management for Parks and
Recreation Professionals at the 2012
NRPA Congress and Expo in
Anaheim. She can be reached at
kathy.capps@raleighnc.gov.

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