The Loss Control Organization - A Follow-Up

John A. Dirkse

As General Administrator of the Wisconsin County Mutual Insurance Corporation, I have been exposed to operations of 44 counties over the past three years. These first three years have shown remarkable growth in the organization, not only in terms of fiscal strength and number of members, but maturity in all phases of the operation itself.

Since formation, we have been able to deliver a quality insurance program to our members, "substantially-at-cost." In many ways this has become our motto and major objective. For any organization to continue to meet their goals and objectives, it must plan for the future.

As the Mutual enters it's fourth year of operation and beyond, we must look to controlling losses as a means of guaranteeing stability and control over the inflationary costs attributed to losses.

I know what many of you may be thinking, "Here he goes again on loss control and prevention programs." Well, you're right. In the last installment I introduced the incentive system for creation of an "involved" county loss control organization. As a follow-up to that article, I would like to expand the explanation of how the organization should be structured. While this appears to be focused on the members of the Wisconsin County Mutual Insurance Corporation, any county could adopt this structure or variance of this structure for assistance in creating an active loss control program.

1. Create a LOSS PREVENTION COMMITTEE of interested and committed BOARD SUPERVISORS. This committee MUST HAVE A DEFINED LEVEL OF RESPONSIBILITY AND POWERS TO EFFECTIVELY MANAGE THE WHOLE RISK MANAGEMENT PROCESS.

Organization of the structure in this manner reduces the number of individuals necessary to make decisions. Making this a Board function is necessary in order to give teeth to the policy making and financial considerations of the loss control effort. Keep in mind that any effort, regardless of structure will only be successful if it is centralized. The Committee or Board should appoint or designate one individual with the administrative responsibilities of this committee. This individual should be the person involved in the insurance matters of the county. If the county has a Risk Manager or Insurance Coordinator, this individual would be the coordinator.

2. Develop a philosophy, set objectives for your loss control effort and prepare a county-wide policy statement. Regardless of the sophistication of your program, this is necessary for two reasons:
1. It focuses the effort by everyone involved in the process. This enhances communication of the procedures and promotes understanding. Thereby removing the uncertainty that can hinder the use of the program.
2. It becomes the yardstick by which you can measure the effectiveness of the program. This allows you to adapt and change those efforts that are not achieving the desired results.
3. Once the objectives have been set, encourage total involvement in the development of the program itself. Using the guidelines set internally or gathered externally from regulatory agencies or your insurance carrier, review the procedures and practices, as well as services of the county. At all times listen to the employees for solutions to the problems.
4. Divide the committee into FOUR SUB-COMMITTEES, each with a different area of responsibility or focus. These sub-committees will be governed by a committee member, whose responsibility is to focus attention on his/her area only. Members of these sub-committees will be Department Supervisors or a designated employee of the department, whose job related duties pertain to the focus group. The four Sub-Committees or focus groups are:
1. VEHICLE SAFETY
2. PERSONNEL & WORKERS' COMPENSATION
3. LAW ENFORCEMENT/EMERGENCY GOVERNMENT
4. HEALTH AND SOCIAL SERVICES - PUBLIC SERVICE

All to often Loss Control or Safety Committees that use all departments as one committee, gets very large. One criticism of this approach is that while the needs of one group are being addressed, the other members of the committee sometimes lose interest if the focus of the conversation is outside of their area.

The Mutual has devoted time to study various committee structures and created a model Loss Prevention Committee that stresses the total involvement of individuals in areas pertaining to their daily activities. This focuses the loss control effort to areas that actively involve the departments affected by the decisions of the Loss Prevention Committee.

This approach combines the viewpoints and perspectives of many into a workable program that is both effective and responsive to the needs of all parties to county government, yet specific enough to address individual needs. By personalizing and focusing the attention of the departments in the loss control effort, successful use of the policies and procedures is enhanced.

The Loss Prevention Committee of the Wisconsin County Mutual is currently putting the final touches on a completely new Risk Management Manual for Mutual members. Included in this document is a model policy statement, statement of objectives, model organizational structure, guidelines and procedures for the various county departments and plans for implementation. The tentative date for release of the new manual is the September 16, 1990 Annual Business Meeting.

The information presented today is in a much abbreviated format. Anyone interested in discussing, in detail, the organization and how it would work in your county, please contact me at 1-(800)242-9601.