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Thursday Oct 12, 2006
Risky business
On The Safe Side (.pdf file), a timely report by Kathy Gaskin from Volunteering England (VE) into risk, risk management and volunteering, managed to make it to the headlines of The Today programme on Radio 4 yesterday morning. Few will argue with the main conclusion:
There are widespread concerns that the sector is bogged down in bureaucracy and that measures are not proportionate to the level of risk. Organisations say that there is no flexibility in the system and that it is not an evidence-based system. People are becoming less willing to volunteer and expose themselves to risk, and are being deterred by risk management procedures and responsibility. There are serious anxieties about the future of volunteer involvement if strictures become increasingly rigid and volunteer roles continue to narrow. While accepting that old-style volunteering may be a thing of the past, there is real concern that applying to be a volunteer is becoming like job recruitment and the instinct to help out will be stifled by precaution and paperwork.
The only real solution is the application of common sense. Over-zealous risk aversion must be challenged. Excessive bureaucracy resisted. A new risk management tool kit (.pdf file) from VE should help. And they've set up a blog to discuss the subject.
Ultimately, as Kathy Gaskin says:
The overall assessment of the state of risk and risk management in volunteering in England is that there is concern but not a crisis. But there may be one if the drift to risk aversion continues. We need to carry out a risk assessment of risk management itself and decide which is the bigger risk.
Posted by Tom Green ( 9:45 AM ) Link to this post Comments[0]