To manage risk, make everyone in your organisation part of the journey

The International Institute of Risk and Safety Management (IIRSM) has published a viewpoint from Gareth Roberts, the Quality Director of Lifeways, on how to manage organisational risk while promoting positive risk-taking.

While the entire 800-word article is only available to IIRSM members, we have posted some extracts below:

• “’Life,’ wrote Soren Kierkegaard, the nineteenth-century Danish philosopher, ‘is not a problem to be solved, but a reality to be experienced.’ And as a social care provider, we don’t have the option – unlike many sectors – to work to eliminate risks entirely.”

• “Each incident [that caused injury] affects so many people. As well as the injured person, there’s their family and friends, and our support teams who are also often affected. There’s also a psychological impact on the people who were involved in any incident, especially if they were at fault in any way.”

• “Since 2017, we have implemented and delivered two successful Lifeways-wide Health and Safety strategies. In a single sentence, these strategies meant that we transformed Health and Safety into an integral part and responsibility of every single colleague’s role - instead of being the occupation of a small group of individuals.”

• Every activity you can think of – supporting someone with physical disabilities to ride a horse, go abseiling, go-karting or scuba diving – can take place if you assess the risks and take simple steps to minimise them.”

At Lifeways, the UK’s largest supported living provider, we are always keen to share our learnings on risk management – and learn from others.

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