Risk Management
It’s a tough job managing risk, but PRISM is here to help you. Use the many specialized programs, trainings, and tools created to help you mitigate risks!
You can find helpful manuals, legal advice services, strategic planning, even subsidies. Strengthen your risk management strategies and lessen costs.
This pool of highly-experienced individuals with backgrounds in Risk Management, Finance, Human Resources, Risk Control, and other skill sets, is ready to take on special projects, supplement during staff transitions, and other scenarios your agency may have. Each has been reviewed by the Member Services Committee and has passed a background check, making your job easier. Browse through our Enterprise Risk Consultants (ERC) e-guide and find that consultant that’s right for your situation. For more information, contact Member Services.
A Risk Management Practitioner (RMP) Certificate Program has been developed in partnership with CPS HR Consulting and the CJPIA, to provide the building blocks to establish, develop, and embed risk management as a business process in public sector organizations.
This five, one-day in-person training series is specifically designed for risk management assistants, workers’ compensation specialists, human resource analysts/assistants, and frontline supervisors who are responsible for practical, cost-effective risk management.
Check Out the 2020/21 Schedule of Upcoming Courses
Want to know more? Watch this webinar: Risk Management 101: More Interesting Than You Think!
Course Descriptions
Course 01: Overview of Public Sector Exposures and Risk Management
Why is skilled risk management so critical to organizational success? What does an effective Risk Management professional do? Join with colleagues to learn about the responsibilities of a Risk Manager and expand your knowledge and understanding of how risk management contributes to your organization. You will walk away with key concepts and tools used by risk managers and form new insights into the unique loss exposures public entities face. You will also learn about the foundational laws and regulations that shape the profession.
Course 02: Insurance Administration, Review and Risk Transfer
Manage your organization’s risk and exposure like a pro after taking this class. You will master the complex and confusing world of insurance, learn to successfully transfer risk, to read an actuarial study, to review a loss run, and apply new knowledge about working with brokers and navigating contracts to minimize risk for your organization.
Course 03: Property and Liability Claims, Safety and Loss Control
Plan proactively! After taking this class you will know how to identify and evaluate your agency’s particular loss exposures while implementing sound proactive loss control measures. Impress your management with strategies for navigating investigations and litigation and assessing current trends and evolving risk.
Course 04: Workers’ Compensation
Handle one of the biggest areas of risk management flawlessly after taking this session. Come back armed with strategies and tools for how to effectively administer standard workers’ compensation and employer’s liability policies within your organization. You will engage in hands-on exercises that provide you with practical guidance on how to administer claims, maintain records, and conduct various audits.
Course 05: Disability Management and Early Return to Work
Demystify this complex area of risk management when you attend this important session. You will explore both work-related and non-industrial injuries as well as the similarities and distinctions between “temporary modified duty” and “reasonable accommodations.” Learn how to engage in the interactive process and uncover the intersection between medical limitations and workplace disabilities, as well as the benefits of maintaining an effective Early Return-to-Work (ERTW) program.
Have you thought about Mentoring? Could you use a risk management Mentor? PRISM is launching a new Pass the Baton Mentorship (PBM) Program to help you with just that. This dynamic Program will give you the opportunity to find a Mentor/ Mentee and share knowledge, coaching, and insights in the area of risk management.
There is a wealth of information harnessed by experienced risk managers, and there are many people who are new to the industry. Many people may not even know what questions to ask! The PBM Program is here to bridge that gap!
Learn, Lead
The purpose of the PBM Program is to foster learning and leading. The PBM Program will help to facilitate conversation and education between experienced Risk Management professionals and future industry leaders. The PBM Program will also inform and enlighten PRISM members on best practices and innovative risk management programs.
Learning: Encourage the continuous pursuit and transfer of knowledge in the aspiration to be a risk management professional.
Leading: Coaching, and sharing knowledge and Risk Management insights with those new to the field.
How will it work?
Mentors/ Mentees sign up for the PBM Program and will be listed in PRISM's Mentorship e-Guide with important information such as areas of expertise and experiences, or needs and questions. Contact information will not be posted. When you are ready to start mentoring or being mentored, contact PRISM Member Services and we will connect you.
The level interaction is up to you! Want to exchange information via email only? Want to meet at a conference for a lunch meeting? Or set up regular in-person or phone meetings? It is your call.
Message Board
The PRISM Message Board has a new section for Mentors and Mentees to interact—post questions and create solutions!
Who can join?
Any member of PRISM can participate in the Pass the Baton Mentorship Program!
How to join?
You can join the PBM Program anytime. Just fill out the questionnaire and send it to PRISM’s Member Services staff.
Questions? Ready to Sign Up?
Contact the PRISM's Member Services Department.
Mainstream Unlimited services include both pre- and post-crisis incident services and communications management. Pre-crisis services include regional training programs, emergency plans (review and development), vulnerability assessments, and webinars on topics such as critical incident management, communications, and media management. Any member-specific, pre-crisis training and communications management may be contracted and paid for by the member at the discounted rates offered to PRISM members. Members may access their available subsidy balances to assist in covering those costs.
Post-crisis incident services include situation assessment, media consulting, public announcements, and deployment of outside resources to member site. These services will be provided to members upon approval by PRISM , and paid for by PRISM up to $50,000 per incident. Any costs above that would be paid for by the member.
For questions on pre-crisis incident services, contact PRISM Risk Control.
If you are dealing with a crisis and need help with situation assessment and media consulting, please contact the following individuals: Rick Brush, Mike Pott, Brian Kelley, or Gina Dean.
PRISM Staff can conduct a JPA strategic planning session, providing guidance and consultation before, during, and after your session. Strategic Planning Facilitation Services will help you create a collaborative environment to share information, debate in a constructive manner, and come to specific agreed upon goals. For reduced rates, our facilitator will work with you to create the “perfect” strategic planning session. Find out more about this service: contact Rick Brush, PRISM's Chief Member Services Officer.
If you’re a member of PRISM’s excess coverages, the Underwriting and Claims Administration standards require that you have an actuarial study conducted at least once every three years. However, because more frequent evaluation of self-insured funding levels is a sound fiscal practice, PRISM supports and encourages you to do so by providing an annual subsidy to help offset the cost of actuarial studies.
An annual actuarial subsidy of up to $2,000 is available to members of the following programs:
•Excess Workers’ Compensation
•General Liability 1
•General Liability 2
•Medical Malpractice (Program 1)
You may select any actuarial firm, but studies should be performed by a Fellow of the Casualty Actuarial Society (FCAS). PRISM has negotiated reduced costs for our members with our contracted actuarial firm, Bickmore Actuarial, and many of our members utilize their services. If you elect to utilize Bickmore Actuarial for their actuarial services, you’ll receive the benefit of volume pricing, and are relieved of the administrative task of requesting the actuarial subsidy. Bickmore will provide a copy of the completed report to PRISM along with an invoice for the subsidy balance, which reduces upfront expenses for your organization. If you utilize another actuary, you may request reimbursement for the actuarial subsidy by sending a request, along with a copy of the completed report and invoice to PRISM. Contact PRISM’s Underwriting Staff for more information.
Alliant Insurance Services has developed an online application to assist members with property schedules, vendor certificate tracking, and requesting issuance of certificates of insurance utilizing their AlliantConnect application.
Go to: AlliantConnect or contact Joe Sanders at (949) 660-8153 for more information.
Keeping track of incoming certificates of insurance is an administrative nightmare for most organizations. The work required to collect the mountain of paper and verify coverage against stated insurance requirements is difficult, time consuming, and expensive. If your organization is like many, this function is not being done well or done at all.
To help our members manage and administer their certificates, Ebix performs all the work necessary to obtain and record proper evidence of insurance coverage from each organization with whom the members contract. Ebix requests certificates from vendors, verifies coverage, sends deficient coverage notices, sends expiring coverage notices, images all incoming certificates and posts them online for easy retrieval.
If you are interested in obtaining more information about this service, please contact Risk Control or call (916) 850-7300.
Through our partnership with MHN, PRISM Excess Workers’ Compensation members have access to Crisis Incident Counseling (CIC) Services for employees following an unexpected work-related death of a co-worker. CIC is a coordinated system of services, including critical incident stress debriefing, for responding to a critical incident that impacts the workplace. Consultants work with your organization through all phases of critical incident planning, response, and resolution. For more information, please contact Rick Brush.
If you are dealing with a situation and need help, please call 916-850-7700 or contact the following individuals: Rick Brush, Mike Pott or Gina Dean.
The purpose of the Insurance Requirements in Contracts Manual (IRIC) Manual is to serve as a guide in both developing proper insurance requirements in contracts and utilizing the Manual as a resource during contract review. This Manual explains how to establish insurance requirements for most contracts, including those with contractors, professional service providers, tenants, vendors, and users of public property, and how to verify their compliance with those requirements during the term of the contract. As always, please contact Alliant if you have contract review questions outside of the information provided by the IRIC Manual or if you need additional assistance.
PRISM's General Counsel, Steve Underwood, Esq. is available to members for assistance and/or consultation on various legal matters.
Topics include the following areas*:
- Brown Act
- Public Records Act
- Contracts and other documents legal review
- Statutory interpretation
- Litigated matters
- Telephonic appearance at closed sessions of the legislative body
- Other general governmental issues
* The Legal Advice Service is intended to support, not replace, your existing legal personnel and is separate from services provided by the Eyres Law Group for EPL consulting.
Members should contact Steve Underwood directly at 805-705-6195, or Member Services.
About Steve Underwood
Steve has been the PRISM's contracted General Counsel for 30+ years. Having been the County Counsel for Mendocino and Santa Barbara for over 33 years, he has a wealth of knowledge in public entity legal issues, which he will use to assist you with your entity’s legal matters.
PRISM's Legislative Committee was developed with the objective of actively participating in the legislative and regulatory process. Contact Mike Pott for more information.
Appraisal Services Requirement:
Members of the Property Program shall perform a real property replacement valuation for all locations over $250,000. New members shall have an appraisal or valuation performed within 1 year from entry into the Program.
PRISM’s Risk Management Subsidy program is a voluntary program that was created to offset the direct costs you incur from securing external loss prevention or risk management services. A subsidy account will be established for each participating member and may be used for any loss prevention or risk management matter. For complete details, view the Policy Statement Regarding Subsidy Funds.
The annual Risk Management Subsidy of $1,000 per year (per coverage) is available to members of the following programs:
- Excess Workers’ Compensation
- Primary Workers’ Compensation
- General Liability 1
- General Liability 2
- Medical Malpractice
- Property
Risk Management Subsidy funds can be used to cover any risk management or risk control related expenses, including but not limited to: purchase of safety equipment, safety videos, ergonomic equipment, safety pamphlets, expenses related to attending seminars, conferences and regional training, expenses related to contracting for inspections or training, and site inspections and property appraisals not already included in Property Program. Risk Management Subsidy fund balances and requests for reimbursement should be submitted directly from the Subsidy Request tool on the Member Dashboard of the PRISM website.