The City of Hurst has combined its risk management and purchasing operations into one office. By dovetailing these two functions, loss prevention measures can be implemented early in a project’s development or purchasing stages, eliminating frustrating and costly safety patches to the final product. With strong educational and cooperative ties between Risk/Purchasing and the City’s various departments/divisions, the City is able to accomplish these functions in a very cost effective manner.

Risk Management

The most important goal of risk management is to protect the assets and financial well-being of the City. This includes implementing techniques and making proper arrangements to help assure that a financially-crippling loss either does not occur or, if it does, is financed through insurance or other means; or is transferred to another party. The risks faced by the City can be subdivided into four general categories of loss: direct property loss from perils such as a fire or natural disaster, indirect loss of time and money due to damaged or inoperable equipment, loss due to litigation, and personnel loss caused by employee injuries while on the job. To be effective, the risk management process must be applied throughout all departments and divisions with a firm commitment towards safety and loss prevention.

Purchasing

Public purchasing is the process of acquiring all the goods and services necessary to provide the public with services they require. The City’s Purchasing goals are to obtain the items best suited to the delivery of public services at the best price while ensuring that all state and federal laws are followed and that all responsible bidders have the opportunity to compete for the City’s business. In addition, Purchasing is charged with ensuring that the process of bidding for goods and services is conducted fairly and that fraud, theft, corruption, and graft are eliminated.