Risk managers need to take an assertive role to mitigate risks associated with using social media in the workplace, experts said during the Risk & Insurance Management Society Inc.'s Annual Conference & Exhibition in April.

During a panel discussion, Karen Bachman, director of risk management and privacy at Shire Pharmaceuticals Inc., told the risk managers in attendance that if their companies do not have comprehensive polices governing the use of social media, it is incumbent upon them to lead the move to create one.

“It's your responsibility to ask about this and, if necessary, make some noise,” Ms. Bachman said.

Ms. Bachman said companies should take special caution when crafting a written social media policy. In the case of the Lexington, Mass.-based drugmaker, a task force was assembled to write the policy and included representatives of the information technology, legal, risk management and other departments.

“It was like rewriting the Bible,” Ms. Bachman said. “It took nine months.”

Moreover, once a policy is established, risk managers need to ensure that its tenets are understood by employees throughout the organization. “A lack of training is a big issue,” she said.

Fellow panelist Max Perkins, underwriter of specialty lines at Beazley P.L.C., agreed that employers and employees alike need to realize that social media posts and text messages are indelible.

“Everything is discoverable,” Mr. Perkins said.

Joann Lytle, a partner in Philadelphia at law firm McCarter & English L.L.P., said while traditional general liability coverage may indemnify companies against instances of libel and slander, companies would be well served to review their policies to be certain.

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On a separate panel, Tanya Karn, Los Angeles-based vice president of risk management at Fox Entertainment Group Inc., said the broadcasting company helped pioneer the use of social media to promote viewer interaction with its movies and television programs, but remains vigilant about its use and subjects employees to rigorous training about the proper use of social media.

Nonetheless, risk managers need to accept that the risks presented by social media are not going to recede. “The horse is out of the barn,” Ms. Karn said.

Panelist Lincoln Bandlow, a Los Angeles-based partner at law firm Lathrop & Gage L.L.P,. marveled that companies will often let junior employees with scant information about libel and slander laws assume control of the corporate social media accounts.

Companies new to the area should view the move into social media like entering a new line of business. “A media company like Fox wouldn't enter, say, the daycare business without first learning a lot about it,” he said.