10 Sport Risk Management Tips for Your Event or Organization

Athletes, facility owners, event directors, facility managers, coaches, sponsors and fans all share an interest in risk management and safety. For example, if a football (soccer) player trips over a protruding object in the field, causing injury to his knee, that means that the athlete will require medical treatment and may be forced to sit out the remainder of a practice, a game, several games or maybe even a season.

Some injuries are career or life ending. It’s not just the athletes that lose. Team owners, sponsors, the team and fans pay the price.
How can facility owners, managers and event directors improve their risk management?
The following 10 tips will serve to assist your facility, sport or event in risk management:

1. Hire a professional risk management consultant to assist in assessing and controlling risks.  Relying on Internet research, experience, or common sense is not enough to develop a comprehensive risk management plan. Professionals will have knowledge of best practices, applicable laws and regulations, methods of risk assessment, strategies for risk control, and an understanding of insurance and other risk financing options. A professional can also assist in implementing Return-to-Play strategies during a pandemic.
2. Develop a risk management plan. The only way to ensure your sports organization and activities are operated as safely as possible is to plan for this outcome. Just like a pilot has a flight plan, you must have a risk management plan to reach your destination of safety, business continuity, and healthy and injury-free participants. This risk management plan should be in writing and strategically developed with input from key personnel.
3. Keep your risk management plan up to date. Conditions, regulations, and personnel will change over time and so it it is prudent to regularly review and update your risk management plan. During the Covid-19 pandemic, updating risk management plans has been done frequently in order to keep up with ever-changing virus spread and government regulations. 
4. Have a risk assessment performed. The best way to understand your organization's risks is to have a professional risk assessment, preferably from an independent expert. This way, you'll receive a comprehensive, objective report of the risks that face your organization and you'll be in a better position to address those risks.  
5. Evaluate the risks and implement risk control techniques. For each risk identified in the risk assessment, identify means by which to control these risks. For example: spectators have a risk of being hit by foul balls or errant bats. In order to control these risks, you may wish to install nets to protect the spectators, warn spectators of risk, and/or establish rules to increase spectator attentiveness. 
6. Evaluate how risks will be financed. An essential part of risk management is risk financing. What happens if your organization is sued? How will you pay for attorney's fees and costs for defense and how will you pay for possible settlement or judgements. The most common way to finance risks is through insurance. However, organizations may choose to self insure or only partially insure the loss by having a large deductible or self insured retention. 
7. Consistently follow a safety plan. One of the best examples of consistent adherence to a safety plan is offered by the airlines. The FAA requires safety instructions and procedures on every single commercial flight. When implementing a safety plan for your sports organization, consider strict adherence and communication to all who are involved in order to maximize safety.
8. Enforce violations of your safety plan. A safety plan is meaningless unless violations are enforced. If you require all participants to wear a helmet, but do nothing when this rule is not adhered to, the plan will not do much to ensure safety. Train staff, officials and volunteers to consistently monitor and enforce safety rules.
9. Modify your safety plan where necessary. Conditions and risks change over time. An excellent example of this occurred during the course of the Covid-19 pandemic. Initially, sports were shut down to control spread of the virus. As participants returned to play, the rules, regulations, and safety plans changed constantly. Make sure to re-evaluate your safety plan periodically to adjust to applicable laws and regulations and in response to your experience with the current plan.
10. Make risk management and safety priorities. You will most likely not be able to implement your entire risk management plan all at once. You may first start with buying insurance to make sure that you are covered in the event of a loss. Next, you may wish to develop and implement safety rules. A third goal might be to have your attorney draft a liability waiver for participants to sign. And then, you may wish to develop your emergency plan. Determine which items are most important and knock them out one at a time. Once you complete your list, it will be time to review and re-evaluate. 

Risk management will improve your organization’s bottom line. Organizations, sponsors, athletes, coaches and fans will benefit when sport and recreation is performed safely and risks are minimized. Increased profits, longer athletic careers and more enjoyment are the inevitable consequence of applying these ten tips.