Risk Cooperative Loss Control Services
As consultants to our member school districts, Risk Cooperative loss control staff focuses their efforts towards building a risk management environment among the staff at the schools. Loss control staff assists member school districts by providing an "outside" evaluation of the districts' programs, activities and facilities for loss control purposes, and by making recommendations for improvement. We try to "institutionalize" school risk management programs through the following services:
- District loss control on-site consultations
- The Risk Cooperative provides at least one loss control consultation visit each year to each member district; more frequent visits are provided to those districts with the most need. During these annual visits, loss control provides claims and incident summaries of district losses, as well as general and district-specific loss control recommendations to help the district improve its loss history.
- Telephone consultations
- Loss control staff is available to answer questions related to safety, liability, insurance and risk management for member districts. These questions relate to a variety of topics including: climbing walls, rollerblading, pedestrian concerns, radon testing, pesticides, playgrounds, construction safety issues, and extracurricular activities.
- Incident and claim loss control follow-up
- To assist districts, loss control staff reviews all student incident reports, and follows up with the district to ensure appropriate corrective action is taken as necessary. Loss control staff periodically accompany claims staff on claim investigations, to assist the district with prevention of similar incidents.
- Loss control quarterly newsletters
- The Risk Cooperative provides an informative newsletter, "Risk Management Matters," periodically to each school. In the past "Risk Management Matters" has covered topics such as: workplace injuries, discrimination law, electrical safety, ASB fund loss control, reporting student accidents, field trip loss control, and handling diversity. In additional to the RMM newsletter, informational memos are sent to schools to keep staff informed of noteworthy developments. Two such recent memos focused on school supervision problem areas and an incident in Pennsylvania in which a cafeteria table fell on and killed a student.
- Loss control seminars and training
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The Risk Cooperative provides at least two loss control seminars each year for our member districts. These are usually all-day seminars involving outside speakers with expertise in that area. These have included:
- Risk Management for School Business Managers
- Incident Command System Training
- School Violence Prevention Seminar
- Athletic Liability Seminar
- School Playground Supervision Seminar
- Preventing Injuries in High School Football
- Preventing Sexual Misconduct in Athletics
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In-district presentations can also be provided and have included:
- Training for administrators in accident investigation
- Athletic liability presentation for coaches/PE staff
- Emergency preparedness
- Loss control outreach to the educational community
- Loss control staff frequently speak at various related programs to help integrate a risk management mentality into the larger school community. These have included risk management and safety presentations for WASBO (Washington Association of School Business Officials), WAPT (Washington Association of Pupil Transportation), WSU (Washington State University) Courses, and OSPI (Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction) training programs. In addition, loss control staff works with OSPI and DOH (Department of Health) on consensus school safety guidelines. The current focus is vocational education.