What do public assembly facility operations professionals need to know about risk?
I have been thinking about risk and risk management a lot lately. I have reflected about my time as a facility manager and how I treated the issues surrounding risk. We now live in a time where the risks have never been greater with no end in sight.
Risk management is the identification, assessment, and prioritization of risks. This process is naturally followed by application of resources to monitor, minimize and control or limit the probability and/or impact of unfortunate events. I would add to this definition the simple concept of awareness of the potential hazards both within your facility, the industry and in related facility types.
For facility managers the list of potential “unfortunate” events might seem endless. There are the potential issues surrounding the facility, including the physical plant, power, water, and gas. For buildings with an ice floor there is the ice plant itself, along with refrigerants including R-22 and ammonia and ethylene glycol in the pipes.
There are the inherent risks that surround the production of our events including the off and on loading of production gear, materials handling in a convention facility and production sets and equipment in our performing arts centers. High rigging with men on the steel, man-lifts and ladders are activities that occur nearly every day.
Weather has always been a risk to our business in both indoor and outdoor events. However, it has only been fairly recently that we have moved as an industry to prepare for both the direct and the unintended consequences of weather events including communication, training and active procedures that increase awareness.
Then we add people to the mix; what more could we ask for? I do not have enough space to even begin to address the multitude of “opportunities” the people create for us.
The Harvard Business review published an article by Taleb, Goldstein and Spitznagel titled “The Six Mistakes Executives Make in Risk Management.” Among these are good lessons for public assembly facility professionals to consider. I have adapted some of their findings in a manner that I feel applies to our profession.
1. We think we can manage risk by predicting extreme events. — For public assembly facility managers this can limit our awareness and preparation for the everyday occurrences. The authors suggest that by focusing our attention on a few extreme scenarios, we neglect other possibilities.
2. We are convinced that studying the past will help us manage risk. — We mistakenly use hindsight as foresight. The events of the past can contribute to our awareness, however, with the speed of change, past event responses will not necessarily work with what we will face in the future.
3. We don’t listen to advice about what we shouldn’t do. — I often use the phrase “don’t worry about nothin’ and nothin’ will be alright.” I believe that we are all in an industry that is resistant to change. To be fair I am certain that we are not alone in this.
I encourage facility managers to identify, assess, treat, and review risk consistently. This requires active senior leadership that empowers staff members at every level, of every department, in the entire organization to not only recognize their role in managing risk, but to also exercise their responsibilities to take action and report any and all circumstances and incidents.
The Bottom line comes from the Taleb, Goldstein and Spitznagel article: Remember that the biggest risk lies within us. We overestimate our abilities and underestimate what can go wrong. The ancients considered hubris man’s greatest defect.
In our business hubris or the thinking that “it cannot or will not happen here” creates potential consequences for our facilities, employees, guests and communities.
Russ Simons is...
managing partner, Venue Solutions Group, and has been in this industry for more than three decades, working in arenas, stadiums, design, construction, safety and security. Send questions about any aspect of venue operation to askruss@venuestoday.com or mail questions to Venues Today, P.O. Box 2540, Huntington Beach, CA 92647.