Author Archives: Morgan O'Rourke

About Morgan O'Rourke

Morgan O’Rourke is editor in chief of Risk Management magazine and director of publications for the Risk & Insurance Management Society (RIMS).
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New Rules for Stadium Security

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With the NFL season in full swing, many fans attending their first games of the year are encountering a new bag policy that only permits clear bags of a specific size to enter NFL stadiums. The policy has not met with universal approval by fans, but the enhanced security measures at such large public sporting events are certainly understandable, especially in the wake of the Boston Marathon bombing in April. And as outlined in the infographic below from SecurityCompanies.

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com, the NFL is not alone in increasing security measures at its stadiums.

Sports Security Sees New Game-Changing Rules

Managing Small Business Risk

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As any risk manager can tell you, risk knows no market segment. Large businesses with their multi-million dollar losses may get more attention but small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) face risks as well.

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The difference for these smaller businesses is that the losses they face can’t always be absorbed into their balance sheet. Losses that would be relatively minor for their larger counterparts, could be devastating and could even force an SME to close its doors forever.

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This is why, according to a survey by UK insurer Premierline Direct (part of the Allianz UK Group), it is interesting to see that despite being aware of, and having encountered, many common risks like customer non-payment, supplier issues and natural disaster losses, not all SMEs have been spurred to take action to mitigate future risk. One-fifth of UK SMEs surveyed not only do not have anyone who is responsible for managing risk, but have no plans to manage risks in the future.

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One-quarter do not consult with any specialists for risk management advice. Of course, the majority of SMEs do take risk management measures but closing the gap for the remaining businesses should be a priority.

To illustrate their findings and offer some tips on how SMEs can manage their risks more effectively, Premierline Direct provided the following infographic.

Infographic by Premierline Direct

Creatures from the Black and Blue Lagoon

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Photo courtesy of The Times of London

 

Locals called it the Blue Lagoon. And over the years, the unused quarry at Harpur Hill near Buxton in the United Kingdom had become a popular swimming spot and tourist destination for people drawn by its picturesque turquoise waters. The only problem was that the lagoon was toxic. The mix of limestone rocks and quarrying chemicals that made the water so inviting had also left it with a pH level of 11.3 (normal water has a pH of 7), similar to that of household bleach, which comes in at 12.6, or ammonia at 11.5.

So local officials posted signs everywhere that not only warned swimmers that entering the water could cause skin irritations, stomach problems, fungal infections and rashes, but that the water itself was filled with wrecked cars, dead animals, excrement and trash. And still, people of all ages kept coming and and kept swimming.

Finally, officials had enough and in order to save people from themselves, they recently took a novel risk management approach and had the lake dyed black. According to a spokesperson, the dye job may be having the desired effect:

“There is already some anecdotal evidence that this is working as residents said that over the weekend people were coming up as they normally do to swim and then very quickly turning around again when they saw the water.”

So to sum up: swimming in bleach is great as long as it’s a pretty color. Further evidence that sometimes illogical human behavior is the toughest risk management challenge of all.

By the way, no word on whether the new black lake has attracted any goths, metalheads or sea monsters.

Disaster Planning for Magical Rabbits

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I have a pet rabbit at home. His name is Boba Fett, named after the popular bounty hunter character in the Star Wars movies, and he’s a pretty laid-back little guy, as far as pets go. He’s not the type of animal that requires a ton of maintenance and he definitely doesn’t need a formal risk management plan. But according to a recent article in the Washington Post, not all rabbits get off so easily. Evidently not only does the U.S. Department of Agriculture require certain rabbits to be licensed, but their owners must also have a written disaster plan for what they will do with their rabbit in case of emergency. It sounds crazy, but bureaucracy often does, I guess.

According to the article, some years back Marty Hahne, otherwise known as Marty the Magician, got a notice from the USDA that based on a law that requires licenses for “animal exhibitors,” the rabbit Marty used in his magic act needed to be licensed. Marty complied. And then, this summer, the USDA informed him of a new rule from the agency’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS):

APHIS published a final rule requiring all dealers, exhibitors, intermediate handlers, carriers, research facilities and other entities regulated by the Agency under the Animal Welfare Act (AWA) to take additional steps to be better prepared for potential disaster situations.  They are required to develop a plan for how they are going to respond to and recover from emergencies most likely to happen to their facility, as well as train their employees on those plans.

Basically, Marty the Magician had to come up with a disaster plan for his rabbit. The letter outlined the areas the plan had to cover, including a list of 21 potential disaster scenarios, training requirements for any of Marty’s employees and how to prepare for an evacuation. According to the law, all plans had to be completed by July 29.

Now, a lot of people, would have rolled their eyes at such absurdity and did nothing. One magician quoted in the article joked that his plan would be a piece of paper that read, “Note: Take rabbit with you when you leave.” But Marty seems to be an agreeable sort of person and actually got a disaster planning expert named Kim Morgan to put together what ended up being a thorough, 34-page emergency management document for his rabbit that addressed all of the USDA’s applicable concerns. Overkill? Maybe, but at least Morgan wrote the plan for free.

In time, hopefully common sense will prevail. The USDA has said that it plans to review the rule as it applies to small operations like Marty’s, but for now the rule stands. And Marty Hahne probably has the safest rabbit in the country. So at least there’s that.