Risk Management

An essential element of trips and outdoor education activities is that they should exercise the student's sense of adventure but this must not be achieved by putting them at unacceptable physical or psychological risk.

Trips and adventurous activities cannot be entirely risk free. The aim, therefore, must always be to contain risks to acceptable levels. This is achievable so long as organisers carefully risk assess:

The type of activity and the level at which it is being undertaken (both the main activities and the "Plan B" activities which would take place if the primary activity is undeliverable);
The location;
The competence, experience and qualifications of the leader and supervisory staff;
The group members' age, competence, fitness and temperament;
The ratio of competent, experienced and qualified staff to students;
The supervisory arrangements - night and day, structured and unstructured activities
The quality and suitability of the available equipment (clothing, activity equipment and rescue/emergency equipment);
Seasonal conditions, weather and timing
Travel arrangements
Emergencies - action in event of a serious incident, and procedures for contacting sources of help.

Most accidents result from a combination of these factors having been inadequately assessed, or overlooked altogether.

Risk assessment and risk management is a legal requirement for any employer.

Risk assessment can be seen as a five-step process that enables teachers to:

Identify hazards and dangers
Decide who might be harmed and how
Evaluate the risks and decide whether existing precautions are enough or whether more should be done
Record their findings
Review their assessments and revise them if necessary.

Teachers are often worried that they may not have the expertise to conduct a risk assessment. If in doubt, always take advice from a competent source (e.g. the Deputy Organisation or an experienced trip leader). Remember that you most likely have a great deal of experience and you are probably being asked to update a risk assessment that has already been undertaken for a trip or venue in the past. For school and college trips, it is useful to see risk assessment as three levels:

Generic
Visit or site specific
On-going.

Generic risk assessments are usually prepared by Wellington based on advice from national governing bodies and, on occasion, by members of staff with particular experience or expertise in the circumstances. A very useful introduction to generic risk assessments and how they work can be found here.

The lack of adequate risk management leading to drowning is a major cause of accidental death, for example. Control measures might include assessing the water confidence and ability of students, use of buoyancy aids and competent supervision. As another example, travel involves a risk of injury in a road traffic accident. Control measures would include using a qualified driver, using a number of drivers, establishing maximum driving periods, ensuring appropriate seat belts are provided and worn, and seeking evidence of vehicle maintenance.

They can be found on a seperate page. To help decide which generic risk assessments you will need, the Deputy Organisation has put together a flow chart.

Visit or site specific risk assessments are normally undertaken by the school for each venue and are amended as necessary for different groups. They should be prepared by the leader of the trip and agreed by someone trained to assess risks, such as the Deputy Organisation. A form is available on the intranet.

Examples of risks to assess might include:

The medical needs of students, with control measures including knowledge of known health problems by the group leader and enough medication and contingency measures if an adult has to accompany a child to hospital;·
Behaviour of students, with control measures including a code of rules on behaviour
Weather conditions, with control measures including obtaining local information about tides, assessing potential for flooding and establishing the likelihood of sudden weather changes.

The visit or site specific risk assessment should always have a pre-assessed 'Plan B' for contingencies. For example, what is the 'Plan B' if your coach breaks down abroad?

Finally, you ought to consider involving students in the planning of a trip and risk assessment, so that they are better prepared, will make more informed decisions and be less at risk. An exploratory visit should normally form part of the site-specific risk assessment and be accepted as one of the costs of the trip. If this is not possible, then the group leader or EVC (Deputy Organisation) must make every effort to obtain information from other sources (e.g. schools that have been on the trip, or have taken part in the management of the venue).

On-going risk assessment (sometimes called dynamic risk assessment) involves the group leader or other responsible adult reassessing risks while the visit is taking place and as the need arises. Precise 'cut off criteria' which can be used as reference points for the on-going risk assessment are helpful. These might come into effect in the following circumstances:

Be absolute e.g. "we don't do the activity if the water is above this level"
Identify additional precautions e.g. "wet suits are essential if the water is colder than.."; "buoyancy aids if the depth of the water exceeds. or the group includes poor swimmers"; "helmets if there is a risk of contact with rock"
Set a minimum age or skill level required to undertake the activity safely in particular conditions.
There are changes, actual or perceived, in weather conditions, environmental conditions, or the physical capabilities of the participants.
There are unplanned changes to the itinerary
Group members are reluctant to participate on safety grounds
Any person gives a warning that activity is unsafe
Changing weather
Behavioural problems
Damaged equipment

Control measures include switching to the pre-assessed 'Plan B', swapping activities, or following the emergency procedure. Group leaders are in overall charge of the group and should always be prepared to trust their own judgement. If they think that to continue an activity or a trip would compromise the health and safety of the group, they have the authority and responsibility to cancel it and to take action to safeguard the group or individual members of the group as they see fit.

It is especially important for organisers to remember that the level of risk represented by a combination of activity and associated factors which might be acceptable for many individuals could still be unacceptably high for a minority of the group. Special consideration will need to be given to all of the factors if any participants identified as having special needs.

Leaders should be on the look-out, especially during strenuous/demanding activities for any signs of constitutional or psychological weakness, particularly in extreme climatic conditions or sustained periods of bad weather. Appropriate physical checks should be carried out after demanding exercises, e.g. checking feet for blisters. All participants should be encouraged to identify and report hazards and to care at all times for others welfare as well as their own.

On return from activities or trips any new ideas should be fed back to the visits co-ordinator for use in future risk assessments. All generic risk assessments and the frameworks that activity specific risk assessments are based on should be reviewed on a regular basis and amended as necessary.

It is recommended that potential group members and their parents are informed of the outcomes of the risk assessment so they can make informed decisions regarding participation. This could be achieved by completing the 'Acknowledgement of Risk' section on the Parental Consent form on the intranet.

Reviewed rca 5/9/09
Reviewed eaw 26/10/10