Page 31 - Risk Management for Outdoor Programs

20 Chapter Summary 1. Standards are widely accepted professional practices. 2. Standards compliance may be voluntary or mandatory. 3. Standards can guide an organization in providing quality outdoor programs. 4. Compliance with mandatory and voluntary standards can demonstrate meeting the duty to care, and reduce exposure to legal penalties. 5. A wide and sometimes confusing variety of standards, in varying levels of quality, exists. 6. Some outdoor standards apply to specific jurisdictions like a country, province, or state. 7. Standards can be relatively comprehensive, or apply specifically to particular activities, staff, equipment, or participant types. 8. Standards can be located in laws and in publications by accrediting bodies, outdoor industry groups, and standards organizations. 9. Typical behavior of outdoor organizations can be considered an unpublished standard, against which others may be judged. 10. To identify standards applicable to your organization, consult other outdoor programs, industry groups, government agencies, your insurance agent, and legal advisors. Conferences, safety inspections, risk management reviews, industry media, staff and clients can also provide useful information. 11. When working professionally, a staff person should meet high risk management standards, even if they personally choose not to during their free time. 12. The applications of standards should be suffused throughout all aspects of the organization. 13. Standards have limitations; for example, they may not be up-to-date, high quality, or comprehensive, and application of standards may be uneven. 14. Despite limitations, standards offer a powerful and valuable tool for managing risk and providing excellence in outdoor programming. Section 1: Getting Started