Spotlight on Safer EOTC Programmes
If any of you have been watching the news or in
particular TV3’s current affairs programme ‘3rd Degree’, you will be
very familiar with the shakeup in the Adventure Industry with regard to safety.
While the shakeup is primarily aimed at the tourism industry; Leaders of school
groups and private groups intending to get out in our beautiful, adventurous
Aotearoa should also be aware of the improvements and changes happening for
adventure activities.
It certainly is a very exciting and proud time for
outdoor education as we collectively and consciously work towards quality
outdoor education outcomes with a high focus on preventable incidents. Schools
and group leaders now more than ever need to be a part of this. While
principals and boards have always held a duty of care to safeguard their staff
and students from preventable harm, today the board are ultimately responsible
for the safety of their staff and students.
However, this is not a scare tactic by any means. It
simply ensures that due diligence is taken when engaging with any person or
provider to deliver adventure activities. This is easily achieved by
demonstrating that all practicable steps are taken to ensure the environment
and facilities, equipment and correct use of, instructors and leaders plus
participant information have all met acceptable industry standards and that
correct policies and procedures are followed.
The 2011 Adventure Regulations have provided excellent
impetus for providers like Bigfoot Adventures to review and improve their
safety management systems. The development of a safety quality mark, namely
‘Outdoors Mark’ is the current benchmark for providers around safer delivery of
activities. The deadline for passing this audit and registering with the
government (MBIE) is 1st of November this year.
With regards to EOTC, ensuring that your provider has
their safety audit is a great starting point. As of November this year, a
school should reconsider using any provider that is not registered or at least
get an understanding of how the provider is working towards this. It is only
fair to say at this point, that a back log of audits due for completion, may be
the sole reason that your provider is not registered. In either case –
registered or not – due diligence should involve taking the extra time to vet
their safety management systems. It may pay to engage an expert in the activity
/ programme to support in the vetting process.
Bigfoot Adventures as leaders in delivery of quality
outdoor education programmes passed our safety audit in 2011 and continue to
improve our systems each year. This is a valuable exercise for any provider delivering
outdoor education. Schools delivering a dedicated outdoor programme can also
avail of the safety audit to improve and gain an independent review of their
systems. Bigfoot Adventures can support a school wishing to gain the ‘Outdoor
Mark’ safety audit. We are also happy to support any provider a school wishes
to use that has not yet completed their audit or registered with the
government. The list of current registered providers can be found here (link:
http://www.dol.govt.nz/Tools/AAOAudit/Audit/register)
As long as group leaders are careful and thorough in
planning and following procedures, risk should be minimised and no serious harm
is probable. And this is ultimately what we all want – fun adventurous learning
outcomes with successful risk management.
Other useful links are:
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