Those of us who pursue a career in camp do it out of a passion for the work and a drive to make a positive impact on the campers. We meticulously plan every detail of the program and strive to create memorable, magical moments. We can get so wrapped up in our planning that it's easy to lose sight of a more boring, but equally important concern: safety. Without safety as a foundation, the most amazing program is a castle built on sand. This is why it’s so important to include a regular risk assessment and risk mitigation exercise in our year-round planning. The first step is identifying risks, and the second step is deciding what to do about it.
Identifying Risk
You should periodically sit down with your management team and analyze the following questions:
What is the acceptable level of risk in our program? How much risk are we willing to tolerate? When answering this question, keep in mind that parents assume youth-oriented programs are safe. This means the acceptable level of risk in a camp setting is very low. In other recreational areas, such as scuba diving and whitewater rafting, there's a common view that taking away the risk takes away the very point of the experience. Not so with camp. Parents expect low-risk activities, and if you offer a particular program, they assume it’s safe.
What are the risks of our program? We might be hyper-focused on the seemingly risky activities, such as high ropes or climbing. Yes, these certainly create a level of risk. But don’t lose sight of the more subtle risks, such as the loose manhole cover on the way to high ropes or the bathroom at the high ropes course, where cleaning chemicals are stored within easy reach of the campers. The activities that seem riskiest can take our attention away from the more basic risks that we see everyday but might fail to really notice.
What is the camp industry's commonly-accepted risk level, and are we doing anything that exceeds that risk level? Do you offer a unique, very risky activity that nobody else in the industry offers? If a camper twists their ankle while playing basketball on a well-maintained court, it’s just part of the experience. It’s an inherent risk of a program that every camp in the country offers. If a camper has the same injury in an uncommon activity, perhaps one that other camps find too risky to offer, then you’re exposed to liability.
Are you among the only camps that still maintains some tradition that was once common practice but is now phased out? If you’ve ever seen the movie Indian Summer, you likely remember the scene where they settle a conflict in the camp’s boxing ring. While that used to be a common practice among camps, it’s obviously unheard of today. But think about this: At some point, after nearly every camp phased out boxing as a conflict-mediation strategy, one or two camps were still doing it. We've always done it that way! Make sure you don’t still have your own version of boxing, and if you do, it’s likely time to rethink the activity.
What is the frequency of risk for a particular activity? Do you offer an activity that consistently leads to injury? A particular camp used to have a very intense game of Capture the Flag on the opening day of each session. It had been a tradition for many years, and it somehow got more and more intense with each passing summer. At some point, the long-time director realized with startling clarity that campers sustained injuries in literally every game -- from twisted ankles to minor concussions. She immediately cut the activity. I’m not suggesting you cut Capture the Flag -- it can be perfectly safe in a different camp culture. You should look through your own program for those few activities that cause too many injuries for comfort.
What is the severity of the risk? Basketball involves lots of sprained ankles. Free diving introduces a less common but far more severe risk. If the potential harm could be devastating, then cut the activity.
Does your insurance policy allow everything you’re doing? Does your landlord have prohibitions on how activities are run? Do all your activities comply with state and local laws? How about ACA standards? Violations of laws, standards, and leases that cause an injury can be challenging to defend. Likewise, you don’t want to be sued for some activity that your insurance policy doesn’t cover.
Managing Risk
Once you identify risks in your program by using the questions above, what should you do next? Here are the ways you can approach risk:
Eliminate the risk. Sometimes this works, but it's often not a viable option. You can cut the boxing program from days of yore, but you can’t really eliminate swim. In the words of a well-known book on this topic, "no risk is worth sleepless nights and personal turmoil," no matter how essential a program feels to your camp. If a risk feels unpalatable to you, then eliminate it and be done with it.
Reduce the risk. While you can’t cut swim, you can mandate that everyone who goes swimming wears a life jacket.
Decrease the severity of the risk. If you must offer go-karting, limit the speed of the go-karts to decrease the severity of a potential injury. If you offer mountain biking, make sure everyone wears elbow pads, knee pads, and helmets.
Manage the risk by teaching safety, providing more supervision, and hiring older and more experienced staff. Going back to our swim example, you can: (1) hire more lifeguards; (2) ensure it's an older group of lifeguards; and (3) run extra training for them all summer. Note that prohibitions against age discrimination prevent discrimination against older employees, not younger ones. So you are more than welcome to favor older employees in the hiring process; and older employees tend to run much safer programs.
Insure against the risk. This is obvious, but make sure all aspects of your program are covered. As noted earlier, don’t just think about the seemingly risky activities. Your horseback riding program is insured, but what about the drive to that program?
Transfer the risk. Make sure families accept the inherent risks of your program in writing and appreciate that these risks are an unavoidable element of the experience. No matter what safety precautions you take, sports injuries are bound to happen. Likewise, the safest horseback riding program can't account for an unpredictable animal. Think of other risks that might materialize regardless of any safety measures you take, and make sure your families accept those risks in writing.
Finally, make sure that every counselor and staff member, from your kitchen to your maintenance department, is a risk manager. Your camp is big and you can’t be everywhere. Your staff should be trained to take action when they see a risk that you don’t know about. If you regularly involve your team in discussions about risk management, you can stave off many problems before they occur and have a far safer program to show for it.
This post adopts the approach to risk management set forth in the insightful book Outdoor Recreation Insurance, Risk Management, and Law by James Moss.