Reality television shows have become the rage in the past ten years. One that has intrigued me is “Undercover Boss.” Each episode features a high-ranking executive or the Owner of a corporation, going undercover as an entry-level employee in their firm to investigate how the company really works and to identify how it can be improved; as well, to reward the hard working staff. The executive alters his/her appearance and assumes an alias and fictional back-story. The fictitious explanation given for the accompanying camera crew is that the executive is being filmed as part of a documentary about entry-level workers in a particular industry. The “new employee” spends approximately one-week undercover, working in various areas of the company’s operations with a different job and, in most cases, a different location each day. The employee is exposed to a series of predicaments with amusing results and invariably spends time getting to know the people who work in the company, learning about their professional and personal challenges.

I can remember participating on a panel of experts representing different professional positions discussing the topic of abuse prevention among the vulnerable sector.  The question was asked “There have been many changes and additions to the standard of protection over the course of the last fifteen years…. When will it come to an end! Have we seen the last of the additional requirements that will be placed on us? What else could be missing?"

When we work and volunteer in organizations that serve the vulnerable sector (children, youth, and vulnerable adults), it is inevitable that we are participating in activities with heightened risks.  When deciding on the activities that are higher risk activities, whose responsibility is it to decide?