That's Fitness

RISK MANAGEMENT GUIDELINES FOR THAT’S FITNESS WALKING GROUPS

Risk Management Guidelines for Bush/walking and walking group members and temporary members Version 1.0 19/08/2014

CONTENTS

DISCLAIMER

This document is intended to assist THAT’S FITNESS walking members to systematically apply risk management to all their activities. That’s Fitness does not accept responsibility for errors or omissions in this document or for the manner in which the information contained in this document is interpreted or implemented.

These guidelines are for voluntary application to the activities of walking members and will not cover each and every circumstance of That’s Fitness activities.

FOR MORE INFORMATION

For further information about managing risk associated with bush/walking activities please contact That’s fitness on thatsfitness@outlook.com or 0478075093.

INTRO

That’s Fitness has a risk management policy to introduce walkers to the principles, concepts and practices of risk management in the context of bush walking/walking activities via website policies and risk management guidelines.

These guidelines are designed to support walking groups to be systematic about risk management and to implement a risk management program suitable for their range of activities.

There is a link between risk management and insurance in that a risk management program aims “to implement actions that reduce the likelihood and consequence of undesirable events. Insurance is the safety net that provides financial protection in the event that something goes wrong.”

These guidelines are only to do with risks to health, safety and damage to property, that is, those events that fall within the ambit of public liability. There are other risks that That’s Fitness’s walking groups may wish to consider and decide if controls are appropriate. These include risks to the environment, and risks to the public image and standing of bush walking/walking itself. The “Heysen Trail Policies and Guidelines” provides excellent guidance about all these issues (as well as about health and safety).

Duty of Care

Duty of care has been described as follows: “You must take reasonable care to avoid acts or omissions which you can reasonably foresee would be likely to injure your neighbour. Who, then, in law is my neighbour? The answer seems to be – persons who are closely and directly affected by my act that I ought reasonably to have them in contemplation as being so affected when I am directing my mind to the acts or omissions which are called in question”

Liability occurs when a duty of care was owed and that duty was then breached. Public liability is when the loss, injury or damage is to person or property.

In terms of That’s Fitness walking groups, the test of a walk leader’s duty of care could be: What a reasonably prudent walk leader would do to take reasonable care to avoid exposing fellow walkers (having regard to their age, experience, skill and other individual matters) to unreasonable risks of injury or loss.

Reading the description of duty of care, it’s clear that we all have a duty of care. In terms of bushwalking, all walkers need to take reasonable care to avoid exposing any person including other walkers to unreasonable risk of injury or loss.

That’s Fitness is insured by Guild Insurance.

RISK MANAGEMENT

Risk management is a three step process used to effectively control risks. At the end of this section there are bushwalking examples to illustrate this process. The process steps are:

The process steps are:

Step 1: Identify hazards

Step 2: Assess risks

Step 3: Control risks.

Step 1: Identify hazards - A hazard is a situation with the potential for harm to life, health or property. The first column of Table 1 on page 6 lists some hazards relevant to bushwalking (there may be more hazards or other ways of categorising them - this is just one approach).

Step 2: Assess risks - The risk is the chance of this potential for harm being realised. Risk can be assessed using a formal scoring method based on likelihood and consequences. While this is not absolutely necessary, it helps the bush walkers/walkers put their mind to identifying the hazards relevant to their activities and deciding on the appropriate risk controls.

A simple way of obtaining a risk rating is to plot Likelihood and Consequence into a matrix like this:

Look across the columns for the consequence that matches your hazard. Then look down the rows for the probability of the hazard occurring for the particular activity you are considering. Where the column and row meet gives you the risk rating. The risk rating is a guide to what degree of control action is required.

Columns 2 to 4 in the table contain examples of risk assessment for certain bush walking/ walking hazards.

Step 3: Control risks - Once you have identified hazards and assessed risks, you next decide on what is an appropriate control for that risk.

For That’s Fitness Walking Group members, the controls are likely to be covered under the terms and conditions located within the policies of the Business, in terms of how activities are planned and undertaken; about checklists of appropriate gear; about participants’ behaviour; and agreed procedures for particular situations.

Many bush walking/walking groups already have a set of rules or agreed behaviours that, consciously or unconsciously, were designed to control risk. In other words they have identified hazards, assessed the risks, and decided on appropriate ways to control those risks.

That’s Fitness Walking Groups may decide that certain hazards, while they may have a very high consequence also have such a low likelihood that overall there is low risk and formal controls are not warranted. Other hazards may be high likelihood but sufficiently low consequence to be low risk and again the club decides it would be unnecessarily restrictive to introduce formal controls.

The thought process goes something like this: Is it reasonable to accept the risk as is? (That is, it is a low risk?). Should there be controls to lessen the likelihood or mitigate the consequences? Or, is it an unacceptable risk under any circumstances - so that the control is a total ban?

Take the risk of snake bite:

Gaiters or long trousers are a control that lessens the likelihood of harm occurring
A properly applied snake bite bandage is a control that mitigates the consequence
But certain locations may be of such high risk that we just don’t go there.

(This example does not exhaust the ways of controlling the risk of snake bite.)

Low risks can be addressed with some simple precautionary measures such as:

advisory notes;
verbal reminders;
checklists; or
simple training.

The higher risks might require more definite actions such as:

compulsory gear checks before a trip,
a required training qualification or proven competency;
a certain level of fitness;
perhaps a decision to call off or abort a trip.

The right hand column in the table below contains examples of controls that might be appropriate for the various situations listed. The actions (or controls) are suggestions only. Each walking group has its own particular mix of skills, activities and types of locations of activities, which will influence what it decides, are reasonable controls for the activities it undertakes.

For example, not all walking groups may have “Leader” as a designated role. A group may jointly plan a walk and be jointly satisfied that their combined skills and abilities are appropriate for the planned activity. In this case all participants would assume responsibility for the risk controls.

The Heysen Trail Website is a good source of information about how to minimise risks in bush walking/walking. Policies can be downloaded from www.heysentrail.asn.au or by contacting the Office.

TABLE 1: RISK MANAGEMENT BUSHWALKING EXAMPLES

SETTING UP A RISK MANAGEMENT SYSTEM

As well as deciding how to best control risks, a systematic approach makes sure that:

That’s Fitness Walking Group members understand their roles and responsibilities
All That’s Fitness Walking Group members know the risk controls that have been decided
New members receive induction
There is an agreed way to deal with That’s Fitness walking group procedures or rules not being followed
Incidents – (or “near misses”) where something could have gone wrong - are reviewed to learn from and possibly revise Walking Group practices
The risk management program is regularly checked for ongoing relevance and effectiveness
There are emergency procedures.

The above aspects are discussed in the following sections.

ROLES & RESPONSIBILITIES

That’s Fitness leaders are likely to have a particular set of risk management guidelines for leading trips.

That’s Fitness walking group members accept that each and every walking group member has a duty of care to other walking group members and the public at large.

That’s Fitness walking group might define members’ responsibilities about, for example:

Children’s attendance on club activities
Individual’s health or fitness being suitable for the activities attended

That’s Fitness walking group has an Acknowledgement of Risk form for temporary members.

COMMUNICATION

That’s Fitness walking group members will work through the process of hazard identification, assessment of risk and decision about controls. As a group, they will help make everyone aware of the risk management program.

That’s Fitness has protocols and procedures, which include risk management measures (and refers to FOHT website). These can be obtained via the FOHT website and also directly via www.thatsfitness.com.au

Specific documents are located on the FOHT website and might include:

Description of grading system (easy, medium, hard, etc.)
Gear and clothing check lists for various grades and types of activities
Protocols for day walks
Protocols for overnight or extended walks etc.
Leaders checklist – various activities.

That’s Fitness may designate someone to manage the documentation, including recording who has received what document or training, so that no-one is overlooked.

Prominent use of checklists by leaders, for example at the start of a walk, or reference to protocols, will keep the program live in people’s minds.

ADHERENCE & IMPROVEMENTS

The risk management system has been set up and will be maintained by That’s Fitness in the following ways.

That’s Fitness has a method to note and report when:

the rules or protocols are not followed; or
to alert the walking group when the rules or protocols are not appropriate and need to be changed.

That’s Fitness Walking Group will use a simple form. Relevant information will be shared with walking group members via the website.

INCIDENTS

Occasions when things almost went seriously wrong are great learning opportunities. A formal method of considering these occurrences ensures the walking group gets the full benefit out of these “near misses”.

As above, a simple form could be used combined with a protocol for a member of That’s Fitness or some designated walking member to regularly check and act on the matters raised.

The end result may be a change to That’s fitness’s procedures, training or some other action that reduces the risk of such an event happening again.

REVIEW Any management system can get out of date or drift into irrelevance as requirements change. To preserve the good work of the That’s Fitness walking group in setting up a risk management program, regular reviews will check that the program is achieving its purpose.

TRAINING

Much risk management is achieved through skills and knowledge. First aid and navigation are obvious skills relevant to most bush walking/walking groups.

Working through the risk management process will help the That’s Fitness walking group identify the skills and knowledge they need for their activities, to effectively manage risk. Walking groups may decide to provide training in-house, or might encourage or require certain external training and have a training plan appropriate to their activities.

Walking group may identify existing training resources that can be used. Visit FOHT website for information on the best accepted practice for safe and responsible walking in South Australian bush and trail areas.

Part of the induction of new members is to visit the FOHT website and read FOHT policies.

EMERGENCY PLANS

Even with the best risk management, accidents and unforseen events can happen.

Being prepared for an emergency will help to minimise any damage, injury, trauma or other consequences. Effective emergency response is a fundamental aspect of fulfilling one’s duty of care.

An emergency situation will be much better managed if you are prepared.

That’s Fitness walking group requires an emergency contact person for each planned trip and require that an activity plan or route plan is left with an appropriate person.

FOHT website details prevention and action plans for a number of potential emergency events. It is an excellent resource for walking groups in developing their emergency plans.

Before commencing any activity all temporary members (visitors) are to sign this acknowledgement of risk form.