Risk Management Practices at Higher Educational Sport and Recreation Centers

Abstract

Risk management is an issue that has been previously addressed in recreation and athletic professions. The litigious nature of today's society requires that risk management procedures and policies be in place in recreation and athletic facilities. An institution that has implemented risk management procedures will better protect itself from costly litigation. This article is a follow-up to a 1997 article by Mulrooney & Green that discussed the overall risk management process and presented a risk management paradigm for recreational sport facilities. The purpose of this study was to examine college recreation facilities to elucidate if risk management procedures were in place in light of Spiegler v. State of Arizona (1996). This case resulted in a $5,000,000 verdict for the plaintiff, a result that might have been avoided with a properly developed and implemented risk management program. The study also examined the importance administrative personnel placed on having a risk management policy, and to what degree risk procedures and risk management training were implemented. A questionnaire designed and validated for utilization in a previous study was sent to 178 Division 1 universities throughout the United States. One hundred and twenty-three respondents completed and returned the survey. Based upon the results of the study, it is evident that the importance of risk management and its impact on liability reduction has not reached the administration of campus recreation and sport programs.