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In the business of preventing disaster
Risk manager shares lessons learned
ByGabriel Vasquez
The Las Cruces Bulletin
Administrators teach it, politicians have touted it and risk managers live by it. Preparation and prevention are key in avoiding costly mistakes and the disaster that can sometimes ensue, and folks in the insurance business have to be prepared for even the wildest of hypothetical situations.
That’s according to Cheryl Johnson, executive director of risk management for the Dallas Independent School District, the 12th largest school district in the United States.
Johnson, who oversees the risk management operations for the 163,000-student, 20,000-employee district, with $1.7 billion worth of property, said she’s learned many valuable lessons throughout her career.
“Analyzing past data is the foundation of risk management,” Johnson said. “Think about the worst thing that can go wrong and then act pro actively to prevent it. Things in life are preventable and predictable.”
Johnson spoke to a group of administrative employees from Las Cruces Public Schools and risk management students at New Mexico State University Wednesday, Nov. 4, at a lecture organized by the NMSU Finance Department.
“Probably one of the most common or ridiculous situations is the slip and fall,” Johnson said. “How many of you have seen a teacher get on a table to put up a poster board? What about a chair? What about a chair with wheels? A lot of these people have master’s degrees, right? Where’s the common sense?”
From small workplace injuries to devastating natural disasters, Johnson and her staff of nine work daily to prevent costly accidents of all types.
“We’ve had schools burn down, injuries, auto accidents, all that and more,” she said.
Not only must Johnson plan for and prevent traditional risks caused by nature or foolish behavior, she must prepare the district, and every one of its schools, for deliberate attacks such as terrorism, gang violence, neighborhood violence and sexual misconduct.
“We conduct a drill at one of our schools that is a scenario of a plane crashing into the property,” Johnson said.
Prevention is better than correction
Risk managers are focused on correcting the problem before it happens, lawyers, on the contrary, are focused on fixing problems after they occur, Johnson said.
“They ask for correction in the form of money,” Johnson said.
The most basic and cost-effective ways of prevention planning is to think of every hypothetical disaster situation, as far-fetched as it may sound, and put plans in place at every level to handle the situation.
“Corporations should be doing risk assessment on every job description in their organization,” she said. “They need to prioritize it, figure out its frequency and severity and address the problems toprevent the consequences.”
At an elementary school in Dallas, Johnson said, administrative staff participates in a training scenario in which a nearby train stops near school grounds and children, playing outside, open up one of the boxcar’s valves, exposing them to deadly toxic fumes.
“We formed a crisis team at the school – the principal, the assistant principal, the nurse, risk manager and a couple of other people. If that ever happens, they know what to do now,” she said.
Adapting to new threats
“You must have continuous improvement, the status quo doesn’t work in this field,” Johnson said.
Fire departments throughout the United States have had to re-train, because of technology, in order to serve the public effectively, Johnson said, and risk management is not much different.
“In the 1960s, fire suppression and building coding came about, which meant there were less fires. Fire departments had to change their services for what was needed, such as emergency medical service,” she said. “The same thing happened to agents and brokers in the insurance industry. We must prepare for changing disasters.”
In order to effectively adapt to the changing landscape, those in administrative positions must have critical thinking, decision-making and general management skills.
“We have to be trained to make quick decisions, the right decisions,” she said.
Holding people accountable
Injuries, property damage and money loss are not always accidents, Johnson reminded the audience.
“Put in place a program that includes accountability,” she said. “We can’t just assume things are going well. When this is not present, you get mediocrity and mediocrity is on the slippery slope that ends in loss of integrity, ethical behavior and trust.”
A good example is a district superintendent in Dallas who was fired for using taxpayer money to buy furniture for her condo, Johnson said.
“What was she thinking?” Johnson asked.
She added that in workplaces in which employees have tightly-defined roles, it can be easy to duck personal responsibility by saying, “it’s not my job,” or “they don’t work for me,” or “we’ve never done it that way before.”
“People need to take responsibility for their actions, and sometimes, it just means saying ‘I’m sorry, it won’t happen again,’” she said.
After a mess-up, depending on its nature and frequency, it’s important for administrators to decide if the folly merits disciplinary action.
“Is it worth firing or fixing?” Johnson asked. “It can usually be fixed. You make mistakes, and you learn from them.”
Cheryl Johnson, executive director of risk management for the Dallas Independent School District, discusses risk management strategies at the New Mexico State University Business Complex during her visit to Las Cruces Wednesday, Nov. 4.
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