Metelits 1Taylor MetelitsPACS 424024 July, 2014Professor P. SybertRisk Analysis Case Study: “A Can of Worms”In essence, the “Can of Worms” case study presents a hypothetical case in which an activity is planned for 7th graders to ‘clean up the local playground’. There are various events andcircumstances surrounding the activity that make it an optimal tool for studying risk management. The following analysis will cover risks noted in the case study and address them. Itwill be organized by risks that will be recommended to retain, risks recommended to reduce, risks recommended to transfer, and risks recommended to avoid altogether.Of the risks observed in “A Can of Worms” there are only two that could be considered asrisks that could be retained. Personnel losing personal property and participants losing personal property are two foreseeable situations in which being retained as a risk seemed like an appropriate decision. The frequency and severity of both events is considered low. In comparisonto the goal of the activity, it didn’t seem necessary to take any formal actions to reduce, transfer, or avoid the loss of one’s personal property.Risks that I would recommend reducing are many. They can be summarized as follows: personal injury from the wood chipper to personnel, participants, and the public from the flying wood chips; personal illness to personnel and participants by becoming overheated/dehydrated from the hot weather; personal illness towards personnel and participants due to food allergiesMetelits 2from provided food; kidnapping of participants because of open nature of playground; abuse of participants because of open nature of playground; and disorganization (poor judgment towards project by administrators) which would cause injury to the reputation of the organization.To reduce the risk of personal injury from the wood chipper to personnel, participants, and the public from flying wood chips the sponsoring organization would provide safety goggles and working gloves for both personnel and participants to protect both eyes and hands when handling, and when near, wood chips.To reduce the risk of personal illness to personnel and participants by becoming overheated/dehydrated from the hot weather the organization would provide large amounts of bottled water for both personnel and participants to keep all volunteers involved as hydrated as possible.To reduce the risk of personal illness towards personnel and participants due to food allergies from provided food the sponsoring organization would send out a mandatory food allergy questionnaire for both personnel and participants/parents of participants to fill out before arranging for food to be provided to eliminate, as much as possible, the chance of serving an allergen to a volunteer.To reduce the risk of kidnapping of participants because of the open nature of the playground the organization would have a small and safe ratio of personnel to participants and also provide jerseys or “work vests” for participants to wear during activity to ensure all participants can and will be seen.Metelits 3To reduce the risk of abuse of participants because of the open nature of the playground the organization would ensure there would be at least a ratio of 2:1, personnel to participants, so that a participant would not be alone with personnel.To reduce the risk of disorganization- damage to the organization’s reputation (poor judgment towards project by administrators) the organization would maintain 110% clear lines ofcommunication (by way of e-mail or newsletter) with the school, the local government, the woodchipping company, the garbage truck facility, the food providers, personnel, and parents of participants to ensure that all parties concerned have a sense of involvement in the process of planning and executing the activity so that if and when unforeseeable circumstances occur no parties are caught off guard and the passing of judgment onto the organization is greatly minimized.Risks that are better off being transferred are also many: personal injury towards personnel and participants from picking up glass; personal injury towards personnel and participants from cutting oneself with a paint scraper; personal illness towards the public from ingestion of paint; personal illness towards personnel and participants from inhalation of paint; and vandalism of property of playground by participants by painting.Personal injury towards personnel and participants from picking up glass can be transferred by notifying personnel and participants ahead of time that if your assignment/choice is picking up trash then it is mandatory to bring a set of work gloves to avoid coming in contact with sharp pieces of glass.Metelits 4Personal injury towards personnel and participants from cutting oneself with a paint scraper is transferred by holding a brief but thorough orientation on how to use a paint scraper soall who are using the paint scraper will be capable of scraping paint in the proper way.Personal illness towards the public, kindergarteners, from the ingestion of paint can be transferred by taping off the area in which benches and playground equipment are being painted with “caution tape” and posting signs that warn “caution: wet paint” to communicate sense of warning to kindergarteners and the parents with them.Vandalism of property of playground by participants painting can be transferred by holding a brief but thorough orientation that describes “do’s and don’ts” of using paint and having a ‘conduct contract’ for all participants to take home and have parents sign before the day of the activity that describes the behavior which is expected during the painting part of the playground activity.The risks that were ultimately deemed as necessary to avoid were few, but imperative. They are: personal injury towards personnel and participants by picking up hypodermic needles; personal injury, and even death, towards personnel and participants by falling into the nearby stream; personal injury, and even death, towards personnel and participants by lightning from thethunderstorm; and damage to personal property/equipment from flooding.Picking up hypodermic needles is an avoidable risk because needles are sharp enough to stick through work gloves and when abandoned in a playground, it can hint at various unhealthy reasons for their use and eventual discarding. However, a way to still be effective in