Marriage, parenting, workplace productivity, and risk control surveys share an important characteristic.

Cooperation is critical.

Two recent site surveys by Housing Authority Insurance Group Risk Control Associate John Laverty showed how painless – and effective – cooperation can be.

Laverty first visited the Wallingford Housing Authority and was given a tour by maintenance worker Ron Canalia. Their first stop at McGuire Court proved the value of cooperation between residents and staff as it relates to creating a nice living space for residents.

The four-person maintenance staff at Wallingford Housing Authority has so many properties to care for that their only official landscaping duty is lawn-mowing. Yet, with each visit, they make tiny improvements. That work, combined with creative landscaping efforts by residents, creates a nice senior community in a quiet, tree-lined neighborhood.

Laverty has a list of questions and a checklist to report what’s going on at each property. He’s also armed with experience, which helps him look around and ask questions that tell the real story. For instance, in the aforementioned tree-lined neighborhood, it’s important that those trees be monitored. They mustn’t be too close to the buildings because leaves could fill the gutters. Also, a hurricane could blow one of them onto a tenant’s unit.

The goal is simple: mitigate risk and keep residents safe.

“We don’t have all the answers,” Laverty says, “but we try to stay informed. The people who work at the housing authorities are usually helpful in keeping us informed.”

The Wallingford visit showed how tough it is for Housing Authority staff when residents don’t cooperate. One three-bedroom unit was abandoned with little cosmetic damage but numerous personal items – crutches, baby seats, a vacuum cleaner, and many other items – had been left behind. An hour of cleanup time is one less hour spent repairing, maintaining, or improving units.

Laverty’s goals go beyond a survey. He meets with housing authority leadership to discuss their plans to see what’s on the horizon. The more information he has, the more in-depth his analysis can be.

“We’re adding a fully-addressable fire alarm system at one complex,” Wallingford Executive Director Stephen Nere said. “Also, we’re in-line for stimulus funding for new walkways and parking areas.”

That’s all good news and the end result is better risk management.

Moving on up

Laverty’s next stop was the Windsor Housing Authority. The office of Windsor Executive Director Sandra Desrosiers is located in a refurbished building that was once the town’s high school. Nearly half of her units are in this building, so she and the staff are right there to make sure everything’s just-so

In one way, the Windsor visit was similar to the Wallingford visit because give-and-take took place that should lead to improved risk management. Yet, it was also very different because Desrosiers can point to her spot on the Risk Control Committee as proof she’s committed to effective risk control.

Much of the time was spent fact-finding, conversing about the industry, and spreading the good word on risk control.

Desrosiers has strong opinions on the need for training.

“Across the board, there’s a lack of education to small PHAs,” Desrosiers said. “There’s an ongoing need for information. It has to be a priority for EDs. Regarding training, I think that people in most small PHAs ask themselves ‘Does this justify my being out of the office?’ Sometimes, the answer is no.”

For next year, Desrosiers and her staff have devised a simple way to teach residents about good risk control. She revealed what it would be but asked that it be kept secret so it could qualify for the various awards offered by the HAI Group Risk Control Department.

However, as a hint, - as it is with site surveys and effective risk control practices – the idea will be good all year long.