1. UTILIZATION
This section presents information that will create a sensitivity about circulation of users in a facility and taking precautions to protect users and employees. In addition, the concept of control, as it relates to facility management, will be explored

2. Circulation, Control, Safety & Security
chapter 12
Circulation, Control, Safety & Security

3. User Circulation
In the early stages of any facility development project, especially the design phase, a great deal of attention focuses on the circulation of users throughout the facility.
Whether it is an indoor or outdoor recreation facility, the ability for users to get from one place to another easily and safely is critical to the efficient utilization of a facility.

4. Circulation Areas
A recreation facility is a comprehensive space that management must coordinate in terms of how users access various areas of the facility.
Each area of a facility relates to others in design and function, which affects facility management practices.
Within every indoor or outdoor recreation facility, certain areas have the specific purpose of circulating users throughout the facility.
(continued)

5. Circulation Areas (continued)
Indoor circulation spaces commonly include hallways, stairways, landings, corridors, and pathways, entrances or lobbies.
Exterior circulation areas could include roads, sidewalks, trails, and paths.

6. Signage
Fundamental to efficient circulation patterns in a recreation facility is a signage system to communicate information that allows ease of movement throughout the facility.
This is most often accomplished with facility signs of varying colors, shapes, and other information that create visibility of various destinations.
Signage should be consistent throughout the facility by using the same colors, fonts, and sizes.

7. Circulation Notice and Direction Reception Areas/Employees
A system (signage) that facilitates the movement of users throughout the facility.
Colors
Arrows
Shapes
Barriers
Information
Reception Areas/Employees
Assist with information and directions

8. Comfort for Efficiency and Aesthetics
A large part of circulation is creating a sense of comfort or satisfaction for people as they move around a recreation facility.
Certain applications can maximize this effort, such as configurations or systems that incorporate designated lines to make waiting time more pleasant for users.
Entertainment, including videos or television, murals, paintings, music, and landscaping, can be provided for users’ enjoyment or distraction while they are moving or waiting.

9. Safety
Recreation facility managers must ensure a safe environment for employees and users.
This care involves sensitivity toward the well-being of facility users and employees.
Managers must consider many factors in providing a safe environment, including the product, equipment, weather, design, and user attitudes and behavior.
(continued)

10. Safety (continued)
Managers should consider five general points as they provide a safe environment:
1. User age
2. Activity participation
3. Experience level
4. User behavior
5. Environmental conditions in specific areas

11. Care
Environment:
Can have an impact on users and workers state of mind and physical condition
Weather conditions can particularly effect participant behavior and safety at outdoor facilities
Indoor environments can also have an impact on participant or employee safety

12. Precaution
Facility precaution is a key safety function of recreation facility management.
It involves analyzing the existing facility, evaluating the goals and objectives of the agency in terms of the product, and examining product utilization from user and employee perspectives in order to identify and minimize potentially hazardous situations. (continued)

13. Precaution (continued)
Precautionary measures also raise awareness of potential risk among employees and users.
They involve five basic components:
1. Leadership
2. Analysis
3. Education
4. Inspection
5. Reporting

14. Leadership
Recreation facility managers should establish a precautionary action program that includes a primary person, often called an officer, as well as an advisory group that could be referred to as a committee, to ensure successful delivery of the core product.
These two sources serve as a team that accepts responsibility for administration of a facility risk management program.

15. Analysis
One of the first steps of the risk management team is to look closely at what exists in the facility.
The following production considerations should be assessed:
Scope of product
Injury potential
Conduct and behavior of users
Level of product activity
Activity instruction and supervision
Hiring procedures
Written guidelines and operation manuals
Preventive techniques
First aid availability
Equipment requirement and use
Training and meetings

16. Education
An important component of a precautionary program is educating employees and users about existing and potential problems in a recreation facility.
This education could include formal training such as presentations on legal terminology, types of liability, standards of care, and evacuation procedures.
A secondary goal of a training program is to create a heightened awareness among employees regarding potential liability that could evolve from use of the facility.

17. Inspection
It is important to have a system of ongoing inspections where all facets of product delivery are assessed from a risk perspective.
The inspection process can include instruments such as checklists that cover every aspect of a facility, including:
Employees
Equipment
Maintenance schedule
Policies and procedures
Job descriptions
Operational items

18. Reporting
The final component of a precautionary system is making sure that any inspections, situations, conditions, and incidents are documented, reported, and stored for future use.
These reports need to summarize what conditions exist or potential problems that could occur.

19. Control
Control involves the practices that recreation facility managers implement because they are responsible for every person at their recreation facility.
Whatever happens within a facility is ultimately the responsibility of management.
Control of a facility takes into consideration internal influences and external influences.

20. Internal Influences
Internal influences involve ensuring proper use of the facility and its equipment.
In order to accomplish this, certain guidelines, directives, and policies are created.

21. Control Policies and Procedures:
Formally states limitations on what individuals are allowed to do while using a facility

22. Policies
Administrative statements, known as policies, inform users and employees of what they may or may not do as they experience the product.
Policies generally answer questions such as who, when, and what.
They may limit certain types of use and establish fees and charges, type of use, supervisory statements, access requirements, capacity limitations and scheduling requirements.

23. POLICY RE: Animal Restrictions in Specific Park Locations
The department of Parks and Recreation has the authority to
promulgate rules for the use of City parks per Bloomington Municipal
Code § Such power originates in the Indiana Code,
et seq., which was adopted by the Common Council via Ordinance 87-
16 § 1 (part) in 1987, and Ordinance 86-20, § 1 (part) in 1986.
Some parks and facilities, based on their size, location or design purpose, can attract a large gathering of participants, users or spectators. In these situations staff has observed that the inclusion of animals in this environment poses some threat for possible injury to other park users or where food products are sold the possibility of unsanitary conditions. For this reason the following parks have restrictions where animals, other than a service animal assisting persons with disabilities, can not be brought into the park or facility in order to protect other park users.
Twin Lakes Sports Park (inside the fenced in area where the ball fields, bleachers and concessions areas are located)
Winslow Sports Complex (inside the fenced in area where the ball fields, bleachers and concessions areas are located)
Lower Cascades Ballfields (inside the fenced in area where the ball fields, bleachers and concessions areas are located)
Peoples Park (the entire park area)

24. Procedures
Statements that help people know how to use a facility and its equipment are called procedures.
Procedures create user and employee awareness of how and where they may be able to use the facility as designed.
Examples of procedures include directional information, time and place of activities, announcements, and user application requirements.

25. Park Naming Procedure
1. A request for the naming of a Park and Recreation facility should be made in the form of a written letter addressed to the President of the Parks Board. The written letter shall contain:
appropriate information documenting why the individual, citizen, or interest group feels the name would be appropriate
any significant civic contribution an individual made which would warrant naming a facility after them
documents community contributions the individual made or documents why a specific geographical or location based name has been suggested to the Board of Park Commissioners
2. Upon receiving this request, the Board of Park Commissioners President and/or their designated representative shall individually review the suggested name and a short description of this policy with each Park Commissioner to discuss the appropriateness of the request and its potential for approval.
3. Upon completion of individual review by Park Commissioners, the Board President and/or their designated representative shall contact the concerned citizen and/or special interest group to discuss the request and express any concerns that exist.
4. Should the individual citizen and/or special interest group wish to continue their request to name a Park and Recreation facility, the item may be added to the agenda for the next regularly scheduled public meeting of the Board of Park Commissioners for consideration and possible action.
5. Any member of the Board of Park Commissioners may initiate a request to name a park and/or recreation facility.
This policy also applies to requests for naming rooms within facilities, or structures within parks.

26. Rules and Regulations
Rules are controls that place limits on specific actions of users and employees.
A common example of this is a sport participation rule that limits the age of users who may participate in a certain program.

27. Control Rules and Regulations:
Specific control meant to guide users and employees, placing limits on the specific action, activity or the delivery of the product. Examples: rules for sport participation; rules for student conduct in an academic setting.

28. External Influences
In order to protect users and employees, local, state, and federal agencies, as well as professional associations, have established principles to protect people in recreation facilities.
Recreation facility managers must be sensitive to how these external influences affect their responsibilities.
External influences include liabilities, codes, and standards.

29. Liabilities
A liability occurs when management had an obligation to protect the user or employee and failed to do so.
This failure to exercise some degree of care by a reasonable person can be observed as negligence on the part of management.
If negligence occurs, a user may make a claim, which could result in a lawsuit that provides damages equivalent to what the user may have experienced.

30. Codes
Codes are legal guidelines or systems that set limitations or control mechanisms for recreation facility usage.
They place restrictions and requirements not only on facility development, but also on daily operations.
Common codes that apply to recreation facilities include fire codes and facility capacity codes designed to assist in the safe operation of a facility.

31. Standards
National associations create standards to provide guidance for the delivery and use of a particular product.
Areas where standards can be observed include designing of spaces and areas, operation of a facility and equipment, ratio of employees to users, temperatures required for certain environment conditions, weather postponement, types of equipment for a job, level of attention and care to users and employees, and timing in getting specialized work completed.

32. Security
Security is having a system in place to protect users and employees as well as facilities and equipment from harm.
When discussing security, the two most important aspects to consider are surveillance and access control.

33. Surveillance
A surveillance system allows management to keep close watch over space, equipment, and people.
Surveillance is a means of protecting a recreation facility with identification checks, gates, or security guards—without necessarily creating the discomfort that can occur with access control.
(continued)

34. Surveillance (continued)
A variety of monitoring options are available.
Lighting
Surveillance cameras
Surveillance staff
Watchdogs

35. Security Surveillance – observation of what is going on at a facility
Lighting
Gives the appearance that people are present or make it unattractive for unwanted intruders
Cameras
“Real time” view of activity at a facility

36. Access Control
Access control is a security concept where appropriate steps to influence who and what can enter an area or a facility are enacted.
Access control keeps people out of a facility unless deemed appropriate for entry.
(continued)

37. Access Control (continued)
Access control practices include:
Barriers and fences
Identification systems for users and employees
Door control

38. Assignment
1. Give an example of a situation that might create a concern for the care or well-being of the users of the facility.
2. Give an example of a form of security used by the facility to protect participants, employees or facility safety.
3. Give an example of a rule utilized by management to regulate an activity or use of an area at the facility.
4. Give an example of a procedure utilized by management to control use of the facility or equipment at the facility.
5. List a policy that effects utilization of the facility or any area(s) of the facility.