ABSTRACT
Planning and People There is no complete checklist on what safety precautions need to be taken on outdoor activities, but there are common themes that can be extrapolated from the legal cases and from ‘good practice’ around the world. A number of organizations have been analyzing these matters for many years, and there are some welltrodden pathways. For example, Becky Kirkwood, the leisure adviser at the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents, in giving advice to parents about school trips in the aftermath of Lyme Bay, indicated in 1994 that they should ‘ask to see written evidence of instructor qualifications, the emergency action plan and affiliation to any sports with governing memberships, [ask] Is there a doctor on call or a resident nurse? What are the staff pupil ratios? And is there a special “parent line” to ring in emergencies?’1 Marcus Brown of the Association of Mountaineering Instructors indicated in 1998 that ‘accident reporting by mountain rescue teams shows that only too often what needs to be taught is actually common sense: choice of equipment, clothing and footwear; choice of route; sensible appreciation of personal fitness; attention to the weather’.2 The AALA in its Sample Risk Management Summary for licensed providers gives a template for wider use which covers key issues such as staff competence and qualifications (usually those of national governing bodies), child protection, supervision when not on activities, risk assessment, insurance, fire protection, transport arrangements, equipment and security.3 As an Infolog from the AALA notes ‘If you think safety is expensive, try having an accident!’4 No complete itemization is possible across all endeavours in the outdoors, but what follows is an analysis of some key areas. The division between ‘people issues’ relating to planning and staffing dealt with in this chapter, and the ‘physical issues’ relating to facilities and equipment in the next chapter, is of course fairly arbitrary. The two are so often inter-related. However, any analysis shows that the quality of the individuals involved in the leadership and supervision of outdoor activities is paramount. An apt summary of both the legal requirements and the safety issues at stake is the statement by Marcus Bailie from the AALA, that ‘Accidents are best prevented by having competent people in charge of the activity’.5
