Riskmanagement

Background:

Risk managementis alogicaland systematicmethodtoidentify,analyse, treat,monitor andcommunicaterisks associatedwithanyactivity, function orprocess.

Effectiveriskmanagement isessential forthesuccessof any publicevent.

TheHealth (Public Buildings) Regulations 1992 requirerisk management plans,inaccordancewithAS/NZS4360: 1999– RiskManagement, for eventsofmore than 5,000people.

Liquor licensing andlocal governmentalsohavediscretion torequire plans for other medium andhigh-riskevents.

Theevent manageris responsibleforpreparing theplanswhich must besubmitted tothelocalgovernmentforapproval.

Plans should be owned by the event manager and treated as confidential by other stakeholders.

Risk managementAS/NZS 4360:1999

AS/NZS 4360: 1999isa genericguideto establishandimplement a risk management plan. Itoutlinesstepswhich,when taken in sequence, willenable continual improvementindecision making.

Riskmanagement

Isabout / Isnotabout
Ensuringsafety. / Creating atotallyriskfreesociety.
Balancing benefits and risks, with a focus on / generatinguselesspilesofpaperwork.
reducingrealrisks.
Enabling innovationandlearning. / Scaring peoplebyexaggeratingorpublicising
trivialrisks.
Ensuringthatthose who createrisksmanage / Stopping important recreational andlearning
them responsibly. / activitieswhere therisks are managed.
Enablingindividuals tounderstand thataswell / Reducing protection of people fromrisksthat
as therightto protection, they alsohave to / causerealharmand suffering.
exercise responsibility.

Guidelines:

►► Developing a risk management plan

Under health legislation it is mandatory for events of more than 5,000 people to develop a risk managementplaninaccordancewithAS/NZS4360: 1999andtheprocessoutlinedinDiagram2below.Otheragencies mayrequireriskmanagementplans forsmallerevents andit is recommendedthatalleventsdevelop a plan.

Diagram 1. The Risk Management Process Model (AS/NZ 4360:1999)

Theriskmanagement plan should include:Event details.

Stakeholders.

Consequence andlikelihooddescriptors.Theriskmatrix analysis.

Risk register.

action responseplans,whichshouldincludetheinitialandtreatedriskdescriptors.

►► Submitting the risk management plan to local government

Risk management plans should be submitted early in the approval process (check with your local government to find out when) and remain a working document until the final briefing.This will assist in identifying critical issueswhereamendments may benecessary, such asinfrastructure.

All risk management plans must be treated and stored as highly confidential documents.

►► Carry out the risk management plan during and after the event

Monitor event risks throughout the event and log any inappropriate treatments (which will show as injuries or disruption to plans).

Inresponseto any loggedincidents, changesshould be madetotheriskmanagement plananditsimplementationas the eventprogresses,withemergencyevacuationbeing the worst casescenario.

►► Post event

Afterthe eventa review ofthe risk management planshould becarried outbythe eventmanager.At the debriefing improvements for future events are identified and successful elements should also be identified.The review process should be completed prior to when the stakeholders gather to plan thenextevent.Refer to event debriefin theSupportTools section.

Table6.Assessment toolforlocalgovernment

Scenario:Developingariskmanagementplan

Seedeveloping ariskmanagement plan foryoureventin theSupportTools sectionto help withthescenario.

Stepone:Establishingthecontext

EventmanagerJackWhite wouldlike to holdaneventin thePeelregion.The eventwouldbecategorisedas a rock concert, anditisprojectedthat 10,000peoplewillattendthe event.alcoholwillbesold.gatesopenat15:00hoursandtheeventendsat23:00hours.

Steptwo:Identifyrisks

JackWhitemeets with the localgovernment, stakeholders and thefarmer whoowns thesiteonwhich theevent is tobe held. Togethertheydo abrainstormingsession forpotential risksassociatedwitharockconcertatthatlocation.giventhatthereisadamonthepropertyinthevicinity of the proposed stage location, one potential identified risk is drowning.

Stepthree: analyserisks

JackWhiteand thestakeholdersanalysedtherisksusing thecriteriain theTool:Developing a riskmanagementplanforyourevent, Table2and Table 3.

They determinedthat the likelihood of drowning occurring could be classified as “unlikely” (Table 2)andthe consequence of a person drowning would be “major” (Table 3).

Stepfour:Evaluaterisks

Usingthe likelihood andconsequences ratings fromTables2 and 3, the identified levelof risk

associated with adrowningwas determinedusing Table4(levelof risk).

Thelevelof risk was consideredto be high.

Stepfive: Treat risks

giventhattheriskratingforadrowningoccurringatJackWhite’sconcertwashigh,Table5(Treatment ofrisk rating) was used todetermine thatseniormanagementattention was needed.ThereforeJack workedwith the localgovernmentand thefarmertoconstructa barrieraround thedam.The locationof thestage wasalso revisedinlightof thishigh risk.