Earlier this month after the CICA conference in Orlando, Ivisited my mother, who lives in the area, for a few days.

Risk management, always a focus of mine, came up a severaltimes. In fact, we had a few opportunities to witness first-handthe real meaning of risk management and its implications. First,during a heavy downpour, we stopped at a popular sea-side cafe fordessert. People were tracking water into the entryway and soon thestaff pulled out a mop. The wet mop was ineffective andunfortunately the floors were made of potentially slick ceramictiles—a recipe for disaster. Then they pulled out a standard brightyellow “caution, wet floors” sign. Good so far. But then theyplaced it in a location and angle that made it impossible to seewhen entering the restaurant. Not so good.

It was another instance where a potential and obvious danger wasbeing overlooked. In this case, the wait and kitchen staff wereleft to make important decisions about safety—a decision thatshould have been anticipated and overseen by management.Unfortunately, scenarios like this are so commonplace they aretaken for granted. But these are the things that can drive upinsurance costs—liability and workers' comp for starters.

The next risk management oversight was also in a restaurant, onemy mother frequents. During a meal there, her friend ordered hottea. When it was served, Mom observed it was a different type ofcontainer than usual. It was glass, with a plastic neck and no pourspout. After only a few seconds, her friend discovered thecontainer was too hot to hold and it had to be put down.

Anyone remember the famous spilled-cup-of-hot-coffee atMcDonald's? We recognized the potential for disaster here and againhad an opportunity to discuss risk management.

A few days later when I was back at home, my mother called mewith an update. She had been back to the restaurant—again herfriend had ordered hot tea and again it was served in thepotentially unsafe carafe. When they mentioned their concerns tothe waitress, she shrugged. She said she realized the container wasa hazard, but that her hands were tied. She said any attempts tonotify management would fall on deaf ears. The waitress hesitatedand then asked Mom to send an e-mail to the chain's homeoffice.

Mom returned to her house, got out her Apple laptop and wrote ane-mail. In it, she said she described the container and itspotential for injury. She underscored her point by saying she hopedthe e-mail would be forwarded to both their management and riskmanagement departments (like daughter like mother?). She laterreceived a reply that her e-mail was being forwarded to thecompany's upper management and risk management departments forreview.

Will the e-mail help? Maybe, but it can't hurt. This is anotherexample of a small, seemingly inconsequential decision made by alarge chain, probably without much thought to safety. Just onemishap, however, could mean possible injury to a customer and mostlikely a lawsuit.

It's also unfortunate that the waitress felt her concerns wouldbe ignored. This brings to mind the popular new TV show, UndercoverBoss, which I've mentioned before. I think the show is doing a lotof good because, if nothing else, it's pointing out how uppermanagement is often clueless to the day-to-day operations—and thehazards present—in their companies.