Safety, Risk and Adventure in Outdoor Activities

200 Pages·2006·1.85 MB·English

by  Bob Barton

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‘Bob Barton's balanced and well-thought-out book will help anyone involved with the planningand K
management of outdoor activities for young people. Bob explores the issues that need to be
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considered when developing and implementing outdoor policies and procedures, in an interesting and
SAFETY, RISK &
thought provoking style, drawing on his wealth of outdoor experience’. A
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‘This book fills a gap which sorely needed filling. The safety versus adventure debate is discussed in n
a thoroughly refreshing way and should inspire a new generation of teachers and youth workers to t
taketheir charges into the great outdoors. The book should be required reading for every Health and u
Safety Officer throughout the land to improve their understanding of what Adventure Educators are
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trying to achieve’.
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DDoouugg JJoonneess,

County Officer, Outdoor Education and Adventure Activities, Bedfordshire County Council I
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‘A distillation of years of experience in adventure activities and an essential guide to getting the U
proper balance between adventure and safety’. T
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NNiicckk BBaarrrreetttt, O
Chief Executive of The Outward Bound Trust O
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Providers of outdoor education must strike the right balance between adventure and security. C
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Effective risk management enables providers to deliver lasting educational value without breaching
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their moral and legal duties of care.
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This practical guide shows how genuinely adventurous outdoor activities can be provided to S
acceptable standards of safety. Drawing on the author's own experience as an expert mountaineer,
and instructor, the systems and processes of successful outdoor adventure are clearly explained
using real life examples and case studies.
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Bob Barton is Safety Adviser to The Outward Bound Trust and works as a consultant on the A
management of adventure activities. R
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cover design:wendy scott
cover image© r ob barton
ISBN 1-4129-2078-7
PAUL CHAPMAN PUBLISHING
A SAGE PUBLICATIONS COMPANY
9 781412 920780
London • Thousand Oaks (cid:129) NewDelhi
www.paulchapmanpublishing.co.uk
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SAFETY, RISK AND ADVENTURE IN
OUTDOOR ACTIVITIES
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SAFETY, RISK AND
ADVENTURE IN OUTDOOR
ACTIVITIES
Bob Barton
Paul Chapman Publishing
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© Bob Barton 2007
First published 2007
Apart from any fair dealing for the purposes of research or private study, or criticism or review, as
permitted under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act, 1988, this publication may be reproduced, stored
or transmitted in any form, or by any means, only with the prior permission in writing of the publishers,
or in the case of reprographic reproduction, in accordance with the terms of licences issued by the
Copyright Licensing Agency. Enquiries concerning reproduction outside those terms should be sent to the
publishers.
Paul Chapman Publishing Ltd
A SAGE Publications Company
l Oliver’s Yard
55 City Road
London EC1Y 1SP
SAGE Publications Inc
2455 Teller Road
Thousand Oaks
California 91320
SAGE Publications India Pvt Ltd
B42 Panchsheel Enclave
P0 Box 4109
New Delhi 110 017
Library of Congress Control Number: 2006928079
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
ISBN 10 1-4129-2077-9 ISBN 13 978-1-4129-2077-3
ISBN 10 1-4129-2078-7 ISBN 13 978-1-4129-2078-0 (pbk)
All photographs by Bob Barton
Typeset by Pantek Arts Ltd, Maidstone, Kent
Printed in Great Britain by TJ International, Padstow, Cornwall
Printed on paper from sustainable resources
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Contents
Acknowledgements vii
Foreword ix
1 Introduction 1
2 Principles of outdoor risk management 12
3 People – the key influence 23
4 Culture – the learning organisation 40
5 Systems – making it all work 46
6 Risk assessment 59
7 Obligations of managers and providers 72
8 Advice to teachers, leaders and instructors 82
9 Parents 106
10 The activities 111
11 Emergency planning and response 137
12 Review and audit 144
13 Incident recording and analysis 150
14 The law 166
15 International aspects 176
Recommended books and sources 182
Bibliography 185
Index 187
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Acknowledgments
I have learned a great deal from those with whom I have climbed, walked, skied, sailed and, occasion-
ally, paddled. I am grateful to them all for their impressive enthusiasm. Particularly memorable
adventures were in the company of Allen Fyffe, Sam Crymble, Keith Geddes, Dave Morris, Jon Prosser,
Mark Diggins, Steve Jones, Iain Peter, Mark Seaton, Brian Griffiths, John Cardy, Harold Gillespie, the
late Peter Boardman and the late John Furness.
My career with the Outward Bound Trust has evolved into one where risk management is its
prominent part. I admire Outward Bound’s policy of openness on safety issues and acknowledge my
debt of gratitude to that organisation and its superb staff. Previously, my colleagues, both at
Glenmore Lodge and Brathay, gave a developing instructor much to aspire to, and my fellow moun-
tain guides are continuing exemplars of effective risk management in action.
My thanks are due to Sir Michael Hobbs for his encouragement in the early stages of this book; to
Sir Chris Bonington for unquenchable enthusiasm and wise counsel; to the late Fred Harper who
showed how adventure and professionalism can be combined; and to Barbara Roscoe who opened
my eyes to outdoor education.
Doug Jones, Rachel Carroll and Anne Salisbury kindly commented on an early draft and Johan
Hovelynk, Jim Rowe, Jarkko Riikonen, Jorge Lantero, Mark Squires, Darren Black and Admiral
Thiruchandran all gave insights into adventure education in other countries.
Thanks are due to the following individuals and organisations for permission to reproduce copy-
right material:
(cid:2) Professor James Reason
(cid:2) Simon Knight and Dave Anderson
(cid:2) The Adventure Activities Licensing Authority
(cid:2) East Barnby Outdoor Education Centre
(cid:2) Canadian Mountain Holidays
(cid:2) The Outward Bound Trust.
Other sources and influences are acknowledged in the text. I have benefited from the views and ideas
of many people but any errors in what follows are mine alone.
Without the enduring support of Anna, Alex, Eliane and Flora the book would never have been
written – thank you!
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Foreword
SIR CHRIS BONINGTON
My life was changed completely when I discovered rock climbing at the age of sixteen. It gave me so
much – the athletic joy of controlling muscle and mind to climb a stretch of rock, the stimulus of cal-
culating risk, the sense of exploration, the wonder at the beauty of the natural environment and the
friendships built from shared commitment and experience. Those feelings are as strong now as they
were fifty-five years ago.
I also saw how much this exposure to adventure could do for other young people when I spent two
years as an instructor at the Army Outward Bound School. I learnt the extent of the responsibility that
I had as an instructor and the challenge of offering an enriching adventurous experience while at the
same time ensuring that the risk to the student was kept to acceptable levels. This balance is not an
easy one to achieve.
Bob Barton is particularly well qualified to help us to ensure that balance between the thrill of
adventure and the need for a safe outcome. He is an outstanding mountaineer with a series of chal-
lenging first ascents in the Himalayas, an experienced mountain guide, a former instructor at
Glenmore Lodge and Principal at Outward Bound Eskdale. I chair Outward Bound’s Risk
Management Committee, of which Bob is secretary. We have had many great days together on the
hills and have discussed at length many of the topics covered in this book.
Adventure in the outdoors has so much to offer and this book will help you to enjoy it yourself
and introduce it to others in the best possible way.