A well developed risk management (RM) philosophy needs to be understood and embraced by all personnel.  We immediately recognized that for RM to be effective we had to get all employees involved; they had to be able to understand and embrace it.  To achieve this goal, we began by sending out surveys across the state to a number of MDOC employees of varying job classifications.  In that survey we asked what you felt were some of the most prevalent risks in the department.  In addition, we traveled to a number of facilities and FOA offices discussing risk management with the staff at those locations and soliciting real concerns and feedback.    Building on your feedback, the Office of Risk Management met with Director Patricia L. Caruso to discuss the concerns shared by department employees.  Five topics were selected as the first risks to assess:

∙ Prisoner Security Classification

∙ Sallyport Security

∙ Medical Transportation Runs (i.e., ambulance and MDOC transports)

∙ Prisoner Records - OMNI Conversion

∙ Crime Victim Notification

Prisoner security classification and sallyport security will be examined first.  A diverse group of team members will be selected for each assessment.  The team will break down the work process to its lowest level, identifying what could go wrong with our procedure, analyze those risks and develop action plans for managing them.   In this process it is important to think "outside the box".  Proposed solutions need to tap into our employees' creative reservoirs.  In this time of extreme budget crisis we need to come up with viable solutions, not just those that point at staffing levels and increased funding. 

The Office of Risk Management encourages you to get involved.  If you are not a team member and have information to be considered, please forward your comments to our e-mail address, RiskManagement@michigan.gov.

Michigan Department of Corrections, FYI Newsletter 012507