Effective Risk Management in the Charity World

Charities and the trustees of charities are becomingcome to harm by the actions of people working for
increasingly aware of the need for not onlythe charity.
protection in the form of charity insurance but alsoAs well as members of the public, you would also
effective risk management. And after they haveneed to take into account people who might not
identified potential hazards which may occur within orwork at your premises full time but who still come
around their organisation, the next stage of the riskinto contact with. From cleaners and contractors to
management process is to actually decide who mightmaintenance workers and staff who might share a
be harmed within the organisations network as thiswork area with you, it is imperative you identify
will allow them to decide how best to manage thethem and how they might come to harm.
risk involved.Finally when it comes to deciding who might be
The first way to do this could be to group togetherharmed and how, you will need to take into account
groups of people who could be harmed and identifythat certain people might possibly have different
what accident or injury type they could beneeds. For example, a volunteer with a disability may
susceptible to. For example, you may have your ownbe more at risk so you may need to take additional
charity shop which you sell a wide variety of goodssteps to make sure they are safe. The same may
donated by the general public. Volunteers in the shopapply to expectant mothers or new volunteers who
may suffer from back injuries caused by theare unfamiliar with where and how you carry out
repeated lifting of heavy items such as furniture thatyour charitable activities.
has been donated.The good news for charities is that they are based
Other important points for charities to rememberon thinking for and about others. Therefore if you
when deciding who might be harmed and how, is toare a charity trustee who wants to improve your
not just think of your staff and volunteers. It ishealth and safety and maybe even reduce your
crucial to remember anyone who you might comecharity insurance premium, identify who might he
into contact with and this includes members of theharmed and how, and you will be on your way to
general public. If you have a charity shop or organiseputting effective risk management strategies into
a charity fund raising event consider how they mightplace.