Risk Assessment

A risk is anything that could go wrong during your event that might cause:

• Injury to people

• Damage to property

• Disruption of your event

• Negative impact on your club’s or NAITSA’s reputation

These risks can be physical, financial, operational, environmental, or related to logistics, food, alcohol, travel, and more.

Example: If you’re planning an outdoor social, risks might include bad weather, tripping hazards, or a speaker not working.

A risk assessment is required for every club event, and it’s built right into your Event Submission form on ookslife.ca. The complexity and number of risks you need to assess depends on your event’s details.

Important: No Event Submission will be approved without a completed and thoughtful risk assessment.

The Primary Event Organizer (PEO) is responsible for completing the risk assessment. However, risk planning works best when it includes:

• Club executives

• Event volunteers

• Partner organizations (if applicable)

Working as a team helps ensure all perspectives are considered—what one person misses, another might catch.

Risk assessments protect everyone involved:

• You and your club members
• The general public
• NAITSA and NAIT
• Your future reputation and legal liability

Completing a proper risk assessment also ensures your event is covered under NAITSA’s insurance.

Start by asking, “What could possibly go wrong?”

Look at every part of your event:

• Before the event (planning, setup, promotion)
• During the event (activities, crowd flow, food service)
• After the event (teardown, transportation, cleanup)

Think about categories like:

Physical Safety

• Slips or falls
• Tripping hazards during setup or teardown
• Medical emergencies
• Food safety issues

People & Logistics

• Volunteer no-shows
• Lack of training or instructions
• Poor crowd control or rowdy attendees

Weather or Environment

• Outdoor weather changes (rain, snow, heat)
• Power outages
• Poor lighting or visibility

Equipment or Technology

• Audio/visual setup failure
• Batteries dying or missing cords
• Blown fuses or power overload

Money & Fundraising

• Cash theft
• Improper storage of funds
• Issues with Square readers or e-commerce

Food & Alcohol

• Improper storage or serving of food
• Allergies or food poisoning
• Overconsumption of alcohol
• Unlicensed serving

Travel & Transportation

• Carpooling or bus coordination
• Accident risk
• Delays or cancellations

Use past experiences and team brainstorming to uncover risks you may not think of right away.

Once you’ve listed potential risks, analyze each one using these two questions:

Severity:

If this risk happens, how serious will the impact be?

• Low – It’s a minor inconvenience.

• Medium – It could cause noticeable disruption or minor harm.

• High – It could cause injury, major disruption, or legal consequences.

Likelihood:

How likely is this risk to happen?

• Low – Unlikely, but still possible.

• Medium – Could realistically happen.

• High – Very likely, almost expected.

These ratings help you prioritize which risks need the most attention.

For each risk you’ve identified and rated, write out your risk mitigation strategy.

Your plan should answer:

• How will you prevent it from happening?

• If it does happen, how will you respond?

• Who is responsible for managing it?

• What backup options do you have?