Keeping our clients, staff and the wider community safe is our number one priority and at the very core of what we do. The outdoor environment and the courses and activities we offer all carry an element of risk of injury or even death which can never be completely eliminated. However, the same can also be said about your journey to meet us, and just like driving (or using any form of transport), putting the right measures in place to mitigate the risks or hazards means that they can be effectively managed.
The huge range of wild and remote places we operate in, combined with changeable weather and conditions necessitates a tremendous amount of experience and judgment from all of our leaders, instructors, and guides, and this is why we only use the most experienced and capable outdoor professionals to deliver our courses and activities.
Managing these risks is what drives us and is ultimately what we take a great deal of pride in. Using our skills and years of experience and judgment to bring risk down to manageable levels is what we do best. Whilst there are always going to be unforeseen situations (just like whilst driving), there are also a number of more predictable situations that we can plan for and mitigate from the outset.
The system we use to produce and quantify our risk assessments is explained below using a simple 3 x 3 risk assessment matrix. To view our risk assessments, please click on the links below. All of the files are PDFs and can be printed if you require paper copies of them.
In order to quantify the risks associated with the various courses and activities we offer and the subsequent risk levels once control measures have been put in place, we have adapted a numerically based risk assessment matrix (see below) which is widely used and in the public domain.
3 x 3 Risk Assessment Matrix
Whilst simple matrices like the one above tend to oversimplify the complex and dynamic environments we find ourselves in (especially in the outdoors), it serves well for quantifying the specific hazards outlined in our risk assessments. Both the ‘Likelihood’ and ‘Severity’ axis are numbered 1, 2, and 3 which is fairly meaningless on its own, so we have labeled the severity (or consequence) axis: (1) Minor, (2) Serious, and (3) Fatal. Similarly, we’ve labeled the likelihood axis: (1) Unlikely, (2) Possible, and (3) Probable.
Anything between 1 and 2 (green) produces a low level of risk, whilst anything between 3 and 9 (yellow/red) equates to a medium or high level of risk. This system can be applied both before and after control measures have been put in place and facilitates a quantifiable assessment of the risks involved in all of our courses and activities.
The current situation with Covid-19 clearly demonstrates, now more than ever, that we all have a duty of care to one another at all times. All businesses, including our own need to prepare and plan for how they are going to manage and operate in a way that will help prevent the spread of coronavirus and other infectious diseases now and in the future. We will continue to operate in accordance with the most up to date government, local authority, and national governing body guidelines and do our part to protect each other and the community at large.
