Author Archives: Emily Holbrook

About Emily Holbrook

Emily Holbrook is a former editor of the Risk Management Monitor and Risk Management magazine. You can read more of her writing at EmilyHolbrook.com.
Immediate Vault

Spencer Educational Foundation Reaches $5 Million Milestone

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Yesterday, at the RIMS 2013 Annual Conference & Exhibition, the Spencer Educational Foundation announced it hit $5 million in donations since the organization’s inception in 1979. The latest round of funding secured $282,500 worth of scholarships to 50 risk management and insurance students from 19 universities.

“This allows us to touch the lives of students who will eventually be the leaders of risk management,” said John Phelps, RIMS President.

Peggy Accordino, Spencer chairwoman, announced that the organization will use the $300,000 donated by RIMS to promote the establishment of risk management and insurance courses at schools around the country. “We would like to have RMI courses be as commonplace as accounting, statistics, marketing — all those subjects that are needed for business,” she said.

Additionally, Temple University was awarded a $50,000 loss prevention education grant funded by FM Global.

Saving Your Company From a Social Media Nightmare

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Facebook has more than 1 billion users worldwide. Twitter processes more than 340 million tweets per day. What is the liability for your company? Are you liable for postings made from employees’ own devices? Can you legally access your employees’ social media sites or base hiring and firing decisions on them?

“Social Media in the Workplace: Litigation Risks and Insurance Coverage” — a RIMS 2013 session — covered these critical issues. Presenting on the topic were:

  • Karen Bachman, director, risk management and privacy for Shire Pharmaceuticals
  • Max Perkins, underwriter, specialty lines for Beazley Group
  • Joann Lytle, partner, McCarter & English, LLP
What is social media? According to Merriam-Webster, it’s:
Forms of electronic communication (as Web sites for social networking and microblogging) through which users create online communities to share information, ideas, personal messages, and other content (as videos)
“It’s basically what we have done for years in terms of networking and interfacing but it’s now in an electronic format that moves at the speed of sound and speed of light,” said Perkins.”It can be scary at times but can also be used to your benefit.”By now, most of us are aware of the reasons why companies use social media, including:
  • marketing
  • customer service
  • market research
  • hiring

But what are the concerns?

  • Privacy “What if someone makes a mistake and mentions a patient’s health history,” asked Perkins. “How is your HR team using social media? Are they able to do that legally?”
  • The speed and ease of communication lead people to make impulsive, ill-considered comments
  • Permanent record

But alas, as the speakers pointed out, there are resources available to organizations that wish to manage the risks of social media? They can:

  • Draft a social media use policy
  • Require employee training
  • Monitor social media use
  • Purchase insurance “It’s not all there right now, it’s still developing,” said Perkins.
Joann Lytle used an interesting, real-world example. A health clinic employee disclosed the contents of a patient’s medical file, including the fact that the patient had a sexually transmitted disease from a sexual partner other than her husband. Another employe created a MySpace page with picture of the patient and disclosed the contents of her medical file, disclosing she has an STD. Though the page was only up for a few days, it was enough for a legal case against Fairview (Yath vs Fairview Clinic).
It seems like it would be a cut and dry case, ending in Yath’s favor.But that’s not what happened.
Fairview had a policy prohibiting the use of social media at work. Technical evidence demonstrated that the MySpace page was not created at the employer’s place of business.
“It really saved Fairview,” said Lytle. “They did the right thing and took the right steps. If any of the factors were different, it could’ve been a huge liability.“
How should a company respond to a potentially damaging post? “This is the kind of thing you should be planning for in advance,” said Bachman
  • Take full responsibility — in social media, it’s impossible to run and hide
  • Make no excuses — stick to clarifying an incident — stick with real data
  • Respond immediately 
  • Do not get into an ongoing conversation with other posters — you’re just going to get deeper and deeper into trouble with no way to dig yourself out

We only need to look at LinkedIn’s Top 5 Corporate Twitter Disasters of 2012 to understand how a simple mistake or an irate employee can cause a media nightmare.Companies can establish a framework to manage risk these risks, however. Aside from monitoring and training, companies can purchase media content liability coverage, including:

  • Defamation, libel, slander, infringement of copyright
  • Infringement of domain name, trademark, trade name, trade dress
  • Plagiarism, piracy, misappropriation of ideas under an implied contract
  • Invasion or interference with an individual’s right to privacy

“One thing to think about is where your culture is within the organization,” said Perkins. “Do you have a cultural awareness of what social media is?”

RIMS 2013 Opening Reception in Pictures

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Last night, RIMS 2013 Conference & Exhibition attendees took over downtown Los Angeles to enjoy the beautiful weather and celebrate the start of a great experience. Held at LA Live, the party was full of great food and drink, lively music and true Hollywood entertainment, including Joan Rivers, Humphrey Bogart and Elizabeth Taylor to name a few.

A few pics from the red carpet:

 

Two New Chapters Announced at RIMS 2013

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The Risk & Insurance Management Society has announced the formation of two new chapters — RIMS Peru and RIMS Australasia. These mark the 81st and 82nd chapters of the Society. The announcement was made today at the RIMS 2013 Annual Conference & Exhibition in Los Angeles.

RIMS now has more than 11,000 members, operating in over 60 countries. The Society’s 82Chapters are located in the United States (68), Canada (10), Japan, Mexico, Australia and Peru. In addition to having chapters in these countries, in the past year, RIMS has actively participated in conferences and hosted professional development workshops in Dubai, Panama, Tokyo, Mexico City, Venezuela, Bermuda, as well as several cities in Europe.

“Most companies today have some level of foreign exposure requiring risk professionals to think globally when analyzing threats and opportunities,” said RIMS President John Phelps. “While risk programs differ from organization to organization, expanding RIMS’ global presence with new chapters in these two countries makes it even easier for the Society to share its wealth of resources and knowledge while helping to establish a more uniformed approach to risk management.”

Eamonn Cunningham, president of RIMS Australasia Chapter said, “I have been a member of RIMS for more than 13 years and have benefited from its resources and participated in its conferences for even longer.  I’m thrilled to be able to bring these invaluable opportunities to the Australasia region’s community of risk and insurance professionals.”

David Saettone, president of RIMS Peru Chapter, said, “With the fifth largest population in all of the Americas and one of the largest business districts in South America, Lima is an ideal destination for RIMS to establish its presence in South America. We’re excited to be able to provide this centralized location for local risk professionals to connect and share ideas.”

As the need for and importance of risk management continues to grow, the reach of RIMS will continue to expand.