Core 6 strategies are key in managing risk and staying safe, and while many full-time employees at PDRMA member agencies are familiar with them, the challenge is instilling that same awareness among part-time and seasonal staff that isn’t exposed to Core 6 as consistently.

According to Becky Cooper, Safety Manager at the Naperville Park District, her agency has developed ways to expose its roughly 1,100 seasonal and part-time employees to Core 6 strategies regularly. “All seasonal and part-time employees watch the Core 6 video during their orientation, and they each get a hard-copy guide on proper stretching. We post that same handout in break rooms at each of our facilities, too. Once they begin working, full-time staff reviews the Core 6 concepts and demonstrates recommended stretching techniques to them periodically.”

Stretching is particularly important since the agency’s hundreds of park maintenance employees mostly have repetitive tasks — picking up trash, weeding, planting, mowing, sports field maintenance, cleaning — that require bending and lifting, not to mention hundreds more recreation staff who are equally active throughout the day...

Lyme disease is a growing concern for anyone who enjoys outdoor activities or works out of doors — especially forest preserve, conservation district and park district staff.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimate that 300,000 new cases occur each year. Ticks bearing Lyme live in tall grass, wooded or wet marshy areas or piles of leaves, but these shade-lovers also bunk in fallen logs or even bird feeders, and hitch rides on pets and other animals. Ticks come in many varieties and can carry more than one infection, which makes proper identification and treatment tricky — but vital. According to the CDC, Lyme disease costs an average of $8,400 per case, but some can be severe enough to become a chronic condition; in 25 percent of cases, severe enough to lead to disability.

Terry Jennings, Executive Director of Barrington Park District, has more than academic or professional interest in raising awareness of Lyme and other tick-borne diseases. Her own diagnosis of Lyme disease makes her a dedicated advocate of awareness, education and prevention — both as the executive director of a park district and as Vice President of the Lyme Support Network.

“Ticks can be anywhere — they are as tiny as a poppy seed — and most people don’t get the telltale ‘bullseye rash’ that marks a tick bite,” she explains. “And since symptoms can take anywhere from one to 30 days to appear, it’s easy to mistake Lyme disease for other illnesses and diseases...

Pool’s open! But wait…

With the 2017 Aquatics season under way, it’s vital to focus on risk management and safety best practices every day...

“Each year we're impressed by our members' ingenuity and safety awareness,” says Tim Lenac, PDRMA Risk Management Consultant. "Every risk management grant winner demonstrates a new way to analyze a problem and develop a creative solution”...