VOICES
Risk Management
Understanding the Four
Important Parts
HAL KALKSTEIN
is the president of
Spa-Risk Management,
a New York-based
insurance service
company for the beauty
and spa industry. He
recently completed the
ISPA Spa Risk
Management program.
In this Voices feature,
he shares some key
risk management
insights he learned
from the online course.
For more about the company, email
hal@spa-riskmanagement.com
or visit spa-riskmanagement.com.
Pulse welcomes contributions
for Voices. Do you have relevant tips
or pressing industry topics or issues to
tackle? Email ispa@ispastaff.com to pitch
an article or share your expert insights.
54 PULSE
■
November 2015
B
y the ISPA Spa Risk Management course definition, risk management is
the process of identifying and analyzing exposure to risk and determining
and planning how to best handle such exposure. To help minimize
risky situations, everyone working at the spa should be involved in
identifying what plans and protocols are needed to avoid, minimize or manage
work-related risks.
Traditionally, when talking about limiting risk for the spa and beauty industry,
insurance coverage is often a topic of discussion. General and excess liability as
well as professional liability insurance coverage is an important part of managing
risk for the beauty industry.
Having a risk management program in place can provide the spa industry
with tools and techniques that can help prevent or reduce the impact of hazards
and conditions that would otherwise lead to an insurance claim. Likewise, the spa
can absorb some of the impact of certain losses.
Risk management has four parts: (1) Risk Prevention or Avoidance (2)
Risk Reduction (3) Risk Assumption or Absorption (4) Risk Transfer (purchase
of insurance). Here’s a closer look at each of these parts:
1.
Risk Prevention or Avoidance: Accidents and injuries and
the resulting claims and lawsuits can be prevented and
avoided by being aware of the underlying conditions that
can give rise to these claims.
WHAT CAN BE DONE:
HR policies: Pre-employment screening can help the spa or salon avoid hiring an
employee with a history of abusing patients.
Training: Employee training can improve the quality of the services provided as well
as educate staff on topics of abuse, molestation and harassment in the work place.
(CONTINUED ON PAGE 56)