6.2.4 (CS1) Liability and Risk Management Program
6.2.4 (CS1)
(M M M M) (CS1) Notification of Potential Liability and Risk Management Program Incidents
A written directive describes the procedure for notifying the agency's chief executive officer or designee of incidents where there may be a question as to the agency's liability or those which may result in heightened community interest A written directive establishes the agency’s liability and risk management program to include procedures for:
Commentary:
The directive should specify the nature of those incidents that should be brought immediately to the attention of the agency's chief executive officer and those that can be postponed to a later time. An agency should carefully examine all incidents wherein its employees have allegedly performed in a manner that created an increased likeliness of death or serious injury to persons or significant loss of property The intent of this standard is to ensure incidents involving work-related liability, risk or loss are properly documented and reviewed to identify remediation measures reducing the risk of future injuries or liability.
A written report should be completed by involved employees as soon as possible following a work-related incident resulting in property damage, injury or death. Examples include, but are not limited to, motor vehicle crashes, accidents on agency property or while operating equipment, or incidents alleged to involve a failure of agency policy, equipment failure or inappropriate employee action.
The report should document all relevant data regarding the incident including, at a minimum, date and time of occurrence, location, type of incident or accident, identification of people involved, identification of known witnesses, description of injuries, medical aid or treatment provided, and work time lost. Photographs, recordings, related documents or subsequent investigation reports should also be collected and retained.
Procedures should be established to provide timely notification to the CEO and any other personnel of incidents involving serious injury or death, including the person or entity responsible for managing the agency’s liability protection program and/or legal counsel. All work-related incident reports and related documentation should be retained until expiration of the applicable statute of limitations as they may be necessary for future litigation.
An administrative review of work-related may reveal patterns or trends that indicate training needs, modifications, and/or the addition or deletion of applicable equipment. An annual analysis should provide the agency CEO with identified patterns or trends that could indicate training needs, equipment upgrades, and/or policy modifications.
Work-related safety and risk reduction training programs should be provided to employees as soon as possible upon hiring. Training topics may include general workplace safety training (evacuation procedures, ergonomics, proper lifting techniques, etc.) and specific topical training depending on employee classification (hazardous materials awareness, VALOR Officer Safety and Wellness Program, “Below 100”, etc.). Time Sensitive Standard. (M M M M) (CS1)