Living Dangerously – summary of the voluntary
matters 3 TV programme
Risk is inherent in our private and work lives. What
we think will happen and what actually happens can be
two very different things; we overestimate some risks
and underestimate others.
On a practical level, voluntary organisations are responsible
for safeguarding against risks by having
appropriate policies to ensure health and safety, and
adequate insurance provision. However, being creative
and innovative also involves taking risks.
For example, taking a measured risk could involve recruiting
volunteers from different sources, putting volunteers
in challenging roles or giving volunteers the opportunity
to develop new projects.
Living Dangerously features three
organisations dealing with different kinds of risks.
York Nightstop recruits volunteers to give young homeless
people a bed for the night in their own homes. Bristol
Zoo Gardens discovered that a volunteer had a criminal
conviction that compromised client safety and the volunteer
subsequently left. The organisation has learnt from
this experience but it has not stopped them from taking
on appropriate ex-offenders as volunteers. Ability Explorations'
volunteers give people with disabilities the opportunity
to do physically demanding activities.
The programme demonstrates that all organisations have
to accept an element of risk. The challenge is to assess
risks realistically and take steps to reduce them while
still staying true to the aims of the project. Although
risk management is specific to each organisation, some
key principles are important:
- Training, including what to do
if things go wrong
- Policies specific to the nature
of the activity
- Volunteers and staff understanding the potential
risks involved, whether to others or themselves
- A culture of open communication
so problems can be dealt with quickly.
Risk cannot be avoided altogether; the secret is to
manage it. Giving staff and volunteers the freedom to
try new things (and potentially make mistakes) will
mean that the organisation can continue to develop.
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Where to now?
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- Read the case
studies to see how other organisations manage
risk
- Do the scenario
to see how you would deal with a volunteer's
concern about risk
- Try the quiz
to test your knowledge about managing risk
- Check transmission details of the voluntary
matters 3 Living Dangerously
TV programme or
order the
video
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