Risk Management
CHF Canada’s Risk Management Program is designed to provide you and your co-op the information and tools you need to prevent costly problems and keep your co-op safe and sound.
What is Risk Management?
By managing risks well, your co-op can lower the chance of something going wrong and reduce the damage if it does.
Risk management is a proactive approach to find and eliminate risks that could harm your co-op. It helps stop big, costly problems before they happen.
Risk management is a collaborative effort that includes everyone involved in your co-op—your staff or manager, the directors on your Board, and all your members to help identify potential risks early and work towards reducing or eliminating them.
The CHF Canada Commercial Insurance program is “performance-based,” meaning that as co-ops work together to reduce claims, we can keep premiums manageable. In the spirit of Principle 6, Co-operation Among Co-operatives, as we do better individually, we do better together. With the Risk Management Program we can spot risks early and work to make them smaller.
Participate In The Risk Management Program: Easy Steps To Get Started.
Following the simple steps of the program will guide your co-op to sound management practices and will help reduce the cost of insurance.
Co-ops can opt-in to the program easily, by simply completing the following requirements:
01
Commit to the Program
Have your Co-op Board of Directors sign a (resolution) annually to join the Risk Management Program. You can confirm your co-ops commitment to participating in the risk management program by completing the short online form that can be found here.
Download the resolution template that your co-op can use.
02
Complete the co-op’s Self-Assessment
Use the CHF Canada Risk Management Self-Assessment to identify activities you are currently doing to keep your co-op safe and sound. Click here for the board of directors risk management self-assessment. This survey will take 30 minutes to complete.
03
Participate in Co-op education
Education is key to understanding why risk management is so important to the well-being and viability of your co-op. Educating the board on what risk management means, and why it’s important, is the first step. This should engage the board to implement a risk management plan for the co-op.
The second step is to educate the members. They also need to understand what risk management means and why it is important to them; otherwise, they won’t get involved and may ignore risks in their unit that could lead to claims, or even injury.
For the risk management program your co-op can participate in a self-paced online course: Risk management: What does it mean, and why is it important? This course takes 30-45 minutes to complete.
Or, join an upcoming webinar!
In this one-hour session, you will learn everything you need to know to complete the requirements of the CHF Canada Risk Management Program. We will cover this year’s Board resolution, the inspection checklist, a template to create a risk management plan and member education. Throughout, we will give you practical tips and guidance to save you time and effort.
04
Plan your Unit Inspections
Annual unit & common area inspections are the most important tool to help identify potential risks that could result in damage and expensive claims but can be used to collect valuable maintenance information about your property. It is easy to be unaware of minor everyday issues that can put us, our families and our neighbours at risk. Most of these risks can be prevented with regular visual checks and a bit of maintenance.
Taking the time to identify a problem in its early stages gives you the chance to take action and correct a minor problem before it grows into something more significant. By taking that preventative action you can help to save the time, stress and money you would otherwise spend. It could be the difference between hiring a contractor to secure a wall and hiring one to rebuild it entirely!
We know that inspections take time and effort. That’s why only 1/3 of units only need to be inspected each year.
Use the CHF Canada inspections checklist to to assist your co-op Click here for the unit inspection checklist. (One unit inspection is expected to take 3-5 minutes.) (link to actual copy of checklist)
If your co-op does its own unit inspections with your own checklists, you do not need to do our risk management checklists as well as your own. We don’t want you to be duplicating work.
Submit your unit inspection attestation.
Inspection Software
To help with the process of tracking preventative maintenance, consider the use of an inspection software that can be used to take notes, register damages, and track maintenance. Many forms of inspection software allow you to customize the questions on their forms, allowing you to tailor the software to the specific needs of your co-op.
Housing; unit and building inspection software CityReporter, promoted by Co-op Cost Cutters.
05
Create your Annual Risk Management Plan
Use your completed unit inspections and what you’ve learned to create a Risk Management Plan using our step-by-step online tool to keep track of and monitor identified risks around the property and steps taken to address them. A risk management plan ensures:
- That your co-op is inspecting the common spaces and the units for preventable risks.
- All your information in one place creating a handy list of risks that are found.
- The co-op thinks about when these risks will be fixed and who will fix them.
Staff have a simple, easy document to discuss at board meetings.
The plan can be reviewed periodically to ensure that the risks are indeed getting fixed according to plan and involves the members which is critical to the success of any risk management plan.
CHF Canada will do some spot-checks to validate and support participation in the program.
The Risk Management Plan takes 25 minutes to complete.
Roles Of The Co-op Board & Staff
The board and staff of the co-op have different responsibilities when it comes to risk management.
However, the board and staff must work together to integrate risk management into the co-op’s operations, and to ensure that risks are identified and fixed. Together, the board and staff should discuss how these activities, including the checklists, will be handled and who will carry them out.
The board:
The board has the overall governance responsibility – they govern the co-op, they don’t manage the day-to-day affairs. They are involved in the strategic planning of the co-op, and the overall plans for ensuring effective risk management.
They set the goals for the co-op, and are the decision makers when it comes to finalizing the risk management activities. The board should designate one person to oversee risk management work in the co-op.
The board should also make a commitment to integrate risk management into the co-op’s operations and ensure that members are educated on the benefits they will see by being aware of risks in their own units.
The board:
- Ensures a risk management plan is in place.
- Provides staff/managers with resources and support to carry out the plan.
- Receives reports from management on risk management activities.
- Engages in long-term planning.
- Communicates to members and educates/engages them.
Staff
The staff person has the responsibility of managing the daily operations of the co-op. They implement the decisions made by the board, and carry out the day-to-day operations, including the risk management activities.
The staff:
- Conduct unit inspections of the property and risk management checklist inspections.
- Are the first to identify and assess risks and determine the cause.
- Provide risk management reports to the board.
- Carry out required maintenance and repairs.
- Ensure scheduled inspections (i.e. smoke detectors, fire alarms) are conducted.
Maintenance & Repair
A maintenance contract is an agreement between your co-op and a service provider, such as a snow removal contractor, that outlines the tasks, schedules, and frequency of the maintenance services they provide
The benefits of a maintenance contract for your co-op:
Stress, mental health concerns, and grief and loss.
- By choosing a provider outside of your co-op, you can bring in experts who understand the equipment and provide a level of service that you might be able to match. This frees your management and staff to focus their time and resources in other ways to benefit your co-op.
- Maintenance and service agreements can also help to reduce your co-ops legal liability. Make sure that your maintenance or service contract is with a professional that has their own insurance in place to provide coverage in the event of an accident.
Please note that this is a sample maintenance contract and should only be used for educational purposes. Please consult with a legal expert when drafting a maintenance contract.
Common Risks In The Program
Claims that result from weather related damage such as from a large windstorm, or other natural disasters can be beyond our control.
However, many losses in our Commercial Insurance Program are caused by human behaviour and therefore are preventable by reducing human error through education and awareness.
Leading Causes Of Loss:
- Fire Damage Claims: Smoking related losses were the leading cause of fires.
- Water damage Claims: Leakage of water from supply lines, frozen pipes, and overflowing fixtures are major factors in the number and size of water claims.
Weather related Claims: It is very difficult to prevent damage from a storm. - However, knowing that weather losses will happen, allows co-ops the opportunity to prepare and take steps to help reduce the amount of damage that can occur from flooding or windstorms.
What Claims Are Telling Us
The ability to obtain many resources and skilled trades has become more difficult and costly.
The time it takes to complete repairs on a loss today has nearly doubled since 2019.
The additional cost for repairs, the delays in getting the needed materials, the reduced amount of available skilled labour – are all reasons to have and adapt a risk management plan for your co-op
A good risk management plan can:
- Prevent losses.
- Reduce the impacts of a loss that can’t be prevented.
- Prepare your co-op for difficult situations after the loss has happened.
You can work towards a safer environment for your Co-op
Help Is At Hand!
We know this is new and we’re here to help every step of the way.
Owen Carnahan, our Co-ordinator, Insurance and Risk Management, is dedicated to the Risk Management Program and supporting co-ops as they go through the process.
