Duty of Care in a Crisis

A seminar to help staff working in university and college hospitality, understand crisis management from a legal perspective.  It identifies the key legal risks that could arise for a university or college at a time of crisis and will give practical tips on how to stay on the right side of the law. Specific legal themes will include: data protection and confidentiality in life and death situations; duties of prevention and duties of intervention.

Hilary Crook

It is ten years since the Human Rights Act became law.  What impact has the Right to Life had on the way we run things?  Is it safer to be a bystander?  Or will you be guilty if you fail to act?  These, and other difficult legal questions, face everybody involved in serious incidents and this seminar will help you understand the legal principles on which sound crisis management strategies can be based.

The seminar will also take a look at insurance contracts.  Is it necessary or acceptable to have a policy of “Never Explain, Never Apologise”?  Or will your cover be invalidated if you say you are sorry?

The nature of a crisis means that it can be difficult to plan for, as events may take sudden and unpredicted turns.  However, certain legal risks arise in any crisis and with a proper understanding of the principles involved, the crisis management team will be better equipped to adapt to any situation as it develops.

Objectives
The workshop will help participants to:

• Look closely at the common law duty of care and cases decided by the courts
• Understand their own duties under various branches of legislation, each imposing a duty of care
• Separate legal fact from legal fiction in a crisis
• Set communications guidelines, respecting confidentiality without appearing insensitive
• Spot the potential claim and head it off
• Appreciate the main legal issues associated with fire; suspicious death; suicide; contagious diseases
• Release themselves from the fear of doing the wrong thing

Participants will be provided with workshop handouts.

Presenter
Hilary Crook, solicitor, is the principal of Hatch Legal.  She has provided legal services to the higher education sector for over fifteen years, and around half the business her firm does is for universities and colleges.   In previous years, people attending UhS conferences have commented that seminars led by Hilary are informative, well-structured and clearly explained. Comments from her last UhS seminar included; “Excellent presentation…seminar very informative and engaging at all times, thank you”, “Excellent course, well presented”, “Hilary’s seminars are always excellent and very informative, worth getting up for at 5.45am”.

Participants
This seminar is for staff working in the university and college hospitality sector, including student and conference accommodation, catering and the management of these facilities. Participants are encouraged to send in advance questions or problems, relevant to the seminar.  If you wish Hilary to include a relevant scenario of yours, please email brief details to: hatch@fsmail.net.  She will aim to include a selection of these during the day.  Those of you who know Hilary will be aware that she welcomes, and often provokes, questions during her presentations, to ensure the day is fully interactive.  However, the sessions will be chaired so as to ensure that all the material in the advertised programme is covered, and that everyone has an equal opportunity to participate.

Date and Venue
Thursday 11 November 2010; registration is from 0915.  The seminar starts at 0945 and ends at 1530. It will be held at Holywell Park, which is imago’s non-residential training centre at Loughborough University. Holywell Park is close to junction 23 of the M1 and also easily reached from Loughborough railway station. Full location and access details will be sent to participants. There is more information at www.welcometoimago.com. 

Fee
The fee for this non-residential seminar is £219.00 plus vat, which includes seminar materials, training costs, refreshments and lunch. If you require overnight accommodation you can call the university’s imago sales office on 0845 036 4624. Subject to availability they have rooms at their nearby Burleigh Court conference centre. A single en-suite lodge room is £59.00 room only; full English breakfast is £14.00.  A main building double or twin is £107.00 for bed and breakfast. They also have en-suite rooms in their Link Hotel, across the road from the main campus at £60.00 room only and £10.00 for breakfast. All prices include vat. Please settle overnight accommodation charges directly with the university. There are two Travelodges six miles away at junctions 22 and 23a of M1, www.travelodge.co.uk. There is a Premier Inn six miles away at junction 23a and one ten miles away at the A42/A512 junction at Ashby De La Zouch, www.premierinn.com.

To make a workshop reservation, please go back to our booking form, which may be completed on-line or off-line.  May we respectfully draw your attention to the UhS business terms, which are on the seminars page of our web site and on the booking form?