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TEP's as Safety Officers. An idea...


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18 hours ago, Tim K said:

I think much of the original proposal has a great deal going for it. I do have some suggestions, though.

1. The TEP having a rep that meets the corps at arrival and does an inspection with a rep from the corps is a great idea. However, I would suggest an official from the school also be present. As any one of us who has ever taught knows very well--if an outside group uses the school, you can blame them for anything that goes wrong. A school where I taught had a crazy program that met once a week on Thursday afternoons. On Fridays we blamed them for everything that w as wrong in our classrooms. My guess is that many a corps has been blamed for issues that were the case beforehand. Of course we also knw the opposite is true.

2. Regarding the safety issues, you need a professional, preferably a neutral party familiar with high school and college safety protocols. Checking on these things every time a corps moves to a new facility is all well and good, but I would think a combination of planned and random checks would be great. I know keeping costs as low as possible is part of the proposal/ I'm willing to bet many people who support DCI and care about its well being who have the qualifications would be more than happy to assist. You would not want anyone directly involved with a  corps, and you would have to clearly define what being directly involved means since so many staff members move from corps to corps.

Let's clarify: I never said - in fact I explicitly explained, that the Housing Manager (or whomever) is not doing any "checking" on anything.  That was Jeff Ream's input, not mine.  In "garfield's world" on this issue, the TEP is simply a line transmission to DCI, nothing more.  

I'm a little curious why no one who's read my idea has asked "What of these 'forms' you talk about?".

Please forget that my original proposal has any TEP or representative doing any "checking" on health issues or whether or not the staff is following DCI-required P&P; that's specifically NOT in the genesis of the idea.  Again, I was, until recently a TEP and did the welcome-wagon at 3am, and there's no way I'd want to assume any responsibility for whether or not the corps is following Safety requirements.

There's a concern that members/staff/volunteers might not feel they have an avenue to report/escape a bad situation when the units are on the road.  Providing as many opportunities as possible for a m/s/v to get immediate help IS the issue, and engaging TEP with a strict and consistent action sequence when ANY m/s/v brings an issue to the TEP does just that, with a different event contact person every time the corps stops.  Custodians, show directors, volunteers at events, PARKING ATTENDANTS! for gosh sakes, what's the difference?  If every show is run conscientiously according to a defined parameter consistent across every show site on the tour, DCI is engaging maybe dozens or even hundreds of potential "safe persons" for every member of the corps at every show.  Again, a well-run tour with emphasis and training properly placed makes this a no-brainer, IMO.

The "show packet" data that is returned to DCI is simply an acknowledgement that the corps director has signed off on the required reporting expected by DCI at EVERY housing sight.  This could include "M/S/V Safety Rules and Reporting Requirements".  It is the attestation by every director of every incidence of member Safety reporting, how it was dealt with, if, and how, it was resolved.  With recognition that not all corps directors actually tour with their corps, the intent is for the person in charge of the day-to-day tour logistics and operations on the road and at the front line be the specific reporting person to DCI, parallel, if determined with reporting to the org's director.  Smarter people than me can work that through, but DCI becomes the reporting recipient, not specifically the corps executive staff or Board, and THEN to DCI.  This also mitigates the potential problem of conflict of interest at corps-run shows.  i.e. the show staff is only collecting attestations and funneling them directly to DCI as part of the TEP packet. If DCI is running the tour, and if it requires that TEP be specifically trained in the appropriate reporting protocol, so be it.  

Our "day-of-show" director held a staff-wide meeting the night before the show for 14 years, and every member of the staff from ticket-takers to stadium ushers were explained their job and their role, even as some were multi-year volunteers (like parking, thank goodness).  How difficult is it to say at such a required meeting, something along the lines of:  "I'm going to read to you a statement of instruction directly from Drum Corps International.  (Reading:) "Should any member, staff, or volunteer of ANY of the performing units approach you about a problem that they say they cannot solve, ANY person and ANY issue, you are to immediately and directly present that person to the show director'.  Is that clear to everyone?"

The reporting comes from the corps, not the TEP's. I hope that's as clear as it is in "garfield's world".

Again, I'm just spitballing here.

Edited by garfield
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ok so....whoever checks the corps in, asks questions and checks a box. that's it.

 

man thats a sinkhole waiting to cave in

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7 hours ago, Jeff Ream said:

ok so....whoever checks the corps in, asks questions and checks a box. that's it.

 

man thats a sinkhole waiting to cave in

Well, it's obvious that I'm not explaining well enough.  Hard to believe with all those words...

Just let it go and I'll try in a different environment.

Mods, OK to close.

Edited by garfield
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2 hours ago, garfield said:

Well, it's obvious that I'm not explaining well enough.  Hard to believe with all those words...

Just let it go and I'll try in a different environment.

Mods, OK to close.

Closing at the request of the OP

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