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The Dimensions of Risk - October 1998

By Michael Vincent

28 December, 2006

Voice injury, can this been seen as a risk or an area worthy of the application of risk management principles.  To many areas of industry the answer would be "no" but to the educational sector where people are expected to use their voice as potentially the prime teaching medium with the students the answer must be an emphatic "yes".

Imagine you have a sore throat, talking is an effort and your voice is reduced to a monotone.  You are about to spend the whole day with a group of up to 30 children eager to learn, play and talk. 

Every day there are teachers who enter their classrooms with varying degrees of voice injury believing it to be an acceptable hazard of an occupation in which they are required to talk for most of the day in difficult and often noisy conditions.  Little do most of them realise that their voice is the tool of trade and that many voice disorders are preventable.

Hans Buetnner of Catholic Church Insurances Limited chose this topic as the area of research for his risk management studies.    His argument revolved around the premise that the purchasing of insurance removes or eliminates risk. His thesis is that there are moral issues beyond just the purchase of insurance that impact on the education system in general and the system has a responsibility to ensure risk is minimised and managed rather than shifted.  

Risk management is interpreted differently by different people depending on their functions and responsibilities in the educational environment.   It is vital that educational providers, both state and private, understand the difference between risk control and loss control in order to appreciate which tangible outcomes and benefits correct risk management can provide.   Educational providers who adopt the concept of risk management are moved to protect their most valuable asset, the educator.   Risk exposure is viewed in this context, not as the potential for financial loss but rather as undesirable health outcomes for teachers that may translate in direct financial losses. 

The project explored a systematic template that enabled the educational providers to adopt a strategy for maintaining the vocal health of their workforce; thus managing the risk proactively rather than by using workplace rehabilitation and medical care after the event had occurred.   The full template is available upon application to the author, the major steps being:

1. Establish vocal health context - understand vocal health goals and strategies.

2. Identify vocal health risks - identify primary risk categories for teachers.

3. Analyse vocal health risks - apply appropriate risk assessment tools for measurement.

4. Assess vocal health risks - establish acceptable risk levels of reportable incidents.

5. Treat vocal health risks - what are the options available and do we transfer or retain the cost in full or part.

6. Monitor and review statistics and risk treatment costs - a periodic review is essential for the success of the model.

The human voice is a sensitive instrument, which communicates not only words but also mood and emotion.  The aspects of the voice that can lead to an injury are:

1. Loudness - controlled by breathing and the tightness the vocal cords.

2. Pitch - depends on the tenseness of the vocal cords.

3. Excess muscle tension - if the muscles in the shoulders, neck, throat and face are tense tiredness will be accelerated. This will make talking an effort.

4. The whole body - is involved in producing an effective voice. Posture, flexibility and correct breathing are vital for a health voice to be sustained.

A teacher's voice is one of the most significant indicators of their physical condition, emotional health, personality and identity as well as an acoustic signal for speech, singling and emotional expression when conducting classes.  Voice dysfunction can exert profound effects on teachers, who because of the symptoms fail to recognise the real cause of the malady; quite often it is seen as an allergy or hay fever. 

Major symptoms of an approaching problem that are felt are:

1. tiredness in the throat or neck

2. dryness in the throat

3. scratchy sensation in the throat

4. discomfort in the throat

5. feeling that talking is an effort

6. sensation of pain or pressure in the throat

7. sensation of choking

8. shortness of breath

Major symptoms of an approaching problem that are heard are:

1. hoarseness

2. complete loss of voice

3. tendency to lose the voice in the middle or at the end of a sentence

4. difficulty in changing pitch

5. restricted range of volume

6. Difficulty in using vocal expression or intonation, monotone voice.

The project identified teachers as being in a high-risk group who would benefit from a risk management program specifically designed to care for their voice.  The program should include aspects of training as to correct voice usage and a maintenance program that educates teachers to recognise voice problems and the system to accept as legitimate voice problems.

About the Authors

Department of Accounting and Finance

Faculty of Business and Economics

Monash University