Risk Management Program for Fencing -- Any out there?

[ysbadadden]

The USFCA has risk management guidelines posted on its website. They are necessarily somewhat abstract. It gives widely accepted principles. But how are they actually implemented?

Does anybody have an actual, concrete risk management program for fencing that they can share?

[edew]

Rule #1: Never point the weapon at anyone's face until (s)he has a mask on and is ready to fence.

[D+F+P=Hadouken!]

Right now I'm working at a sleep away summer camp (Teaching basic foil, pays 2k, pretty fun). Today they had a dude from the insurance company come in and talk about innappropriate behavior (child molestation, sexual harrassment, ect). You sign a paper after you have heard his speech. Its a very cover-our-asses kind of thing for the camp owners.

And then I realized that fencing clubs don't tend to do anything like this.

I think we need to.

You've got to cover various risks such as neglect, sexual abuse and harrasement, the responsibilities of coaches and staff who are chaperoning kiddos across the country, ect.

Your little typed up waiver doesn't mean ****. Talk to your insurance company.

[qatet]

On a somewhat related note - we're all used to the state criminal history and child abuse clearances, but in PA at least there's now a new one that is required for working with kids - the FBI criminal history report. PA information is available at http://www.pa.cogentid.com/. Involves fingerprinting. Great. In PA it's now required to work at any school, and presumably many other types of institutions where one works with kids.

Might have been nice to learn about this at a point when I had a weekday or two before starting working camps five days a week. (Insert expletives here.)

[ysbadadden]

Shows you the depths of my naivete -- I was thinking about liability arising from accidents, etc., not from criminal behavior, sexual harassment, etc. Do we think that the latter category (of lawsuits) is more common than the former?

BTW, the waiver means something -- for adult fencers -- if you can show that they got proper warnings and instruction about fencing safety, and that they disregarded the regs. You'll still get sued some of the time, but you'll win. OK, you'll win but you'll be broke. Whoopee.

Right now I'm working at a sleep away summer camp (Teaching basic foil, pays 2k, pretty fun). Today they had a dude from the insurance company come in and talk about innappropriate behavior (child molestation, sexual harrassment, ect). You sign a paper after you have heard his speech. Its a very cover-our-asses kind of thing for the camp owners.

And then I realized that fencing clubs don't tend to do anything like this.

I think we need to.

You've got to cover various risks such as neglect, sexual abuse and harrasement, the responsibilities of coaches and staff who are chaperoning kiddos across the country, ect.

Your little typed up waiver doesn't mean ****. Talk to your insurance company.

[edew]

USFA's insurance program covers most of what happens during the open hours of the business. The remaining 24/7 coverage can also be obtained from the insurance company that provides the coverage.

[ysbadadden]

Having good insurance is only one aspect of risk management (it's called transferring the risk). Insurance is for when somebody sues. But it's better not to be sued; that is, to prevent injuries, damage, criminal behavior, etc. Is there someone out there who has, or knows of, a complete program or set of policies?

USFA's insurance program covers most of what happens during the open hours of the business. The remaining 24/7 coverage can also be obtained from the insurance company that provides the coverage.

[chefencer]

This thread reminded me of:
Club Management: Is your club ready for an emergency?

[darius]

If you're interested in prevention, check out :

http://www.fencing.ca/coaching_manua...ach_manual.pdf

Pgs 80-81. Has a recommended First Aid kit, some guidelines for an Emergency Action Plan.

That's a start, I'm sure there are some better generalized resources out there; it shouldn't be hard to come up with a set of policies. Just brainstorm a bunch of possible Bad Things that could happen, and then figure out what solutions the culture of your club is capable of sticking to.

darius