BS-8848-2007+A1-2009.pdf

BS 8848:2007+A1:2009 Specification for the provision of visits, fieldwork, expeditions, and adventurous activities, outside the United Kingdom ICS 03.080.30; 03.200 NO COPYING WITHOUT BSI PERMISSION EXCEPT AS PERMITTED BY COPYRIGHT LAW BRITISH STANDARD Licensed CopyChinese University of Hong Kong, 11/04/2009 07:12, Uncontrolled Copy, (c) BSI Publishing and copyright information The BSI copyright notice displayed in this document indicates when the document was last issued. ISBN 978 0 580 63725 4 The following BSI references relate to the work on this standard: Committee reference SVS/2 Draft for comment 06/30147317 DC Publication history First published April 2007 Amendments issued since publication Amd. no.DateText affected A1See foreword BS 8848:2007+A1:2009 © BSI 2009 31 January 2009 Licensed CopyChinese University of Hong Kong, 11/04/2009 07:12, Uncontrolled Copy, (c) BSI i BS 8848:2007+A1:2009 Contents Foreword ii Introduction 1 1Scope 4 2Terms and definitions 4 3Purpose for the venture 7 4Identification of potential participants 7 5Venture leader, leadership team and support team 8 6Supervision and staffing ratios 9 7Protection of a participant under 18 years of age or a vulnerable adult 12 8Allocation of roles and responsibilities 12 9Third party provider 14 10Planning the venture 14 11Venture integrity 15 12Permission 16 13Safety policy, risk analysis and management system 16 14Legal framework and contracts 18 15Insurance 22 16Training and induction 23 17Joining instruction 24 18Travel 25 19Accommodation 26 20Environment 27 21Medical 27 22Finance 30 23Communication 30 24Security 32 25Contingency planning 32 26Incident and emergency plan 33 27Equipment 34 28Evaluation 35 29Claims of conformance 35 Annexes Annex A (informative) The participants perspective of this standard 39 Annex B (informative) Claims of partial conformity Methodology 40 Annex C (informative) BS 8848 Self-declaration of conformity: supporting documentation and checklist 44 Annex D (informative) Guidance for independent, third party multiple venture provision 62 Bibliography 64 List of figures Figure 2 Venture roles 13 List of tables Table B.1 An example of clause and subclause combinations relevant to a claim of partial conformity by a third party transport provider 42 Summary of pages This document comprises a front cover, an inside front cover, pages i and ii, pages 1 to 65 and a back cover. ! “ “ ! organizations offering certification and/or other party assessment of Figure 1 Examples of applicability of the standard 3 © BSI 2009 Licensed CopyChinese University of Hong Kong, 11/04/2009 07:12, Uncontrolled Copy, (c) BSI BS 8848:2007+A1:2009 ii Foreword Publishing information This British Standard was published by BSI and came into effect on 30 April 2007. It was prepared by Technical Committee SVS/2, Tourism services. A list of organizations represented on this committee can be obtained on request to its secretary. The start and finish of text introduced or altered by Amendment No. 1 is indicated in the text by tags ! “. Supersession BS 8848:2007+A1:2009 supersedes BS 8848:2007, which is withdrawn. Relationship with other publications In compiling this standard, recognition has been given to the existing documentation on good practice which has been used to inform and underpin the development of this standard. Hazard warnings WARNING. This British Standard calls for the use of substances and/or procedures that can be injurious to health if adequate precautions are not taken. It refers only to technical suitability and does not absolve the user from legal obligations relating to health and safety at any stage. Use of this document It has been assumed in the preparation of this British Standard that the execution of its provisions will be entrusted to appropriately qualified and experienced people, for whose use it has been produced. Presentational conventions The provisions of this standard are presented in roman (i.e. upright) type. Its requirements are expressed in sentences in which the principal auxiliary verb is “shall”. Commentary, explanation and general informative material is presented in smaller italic type, and does not constitute a normative element. The word “should” is used to express recommendations, the word “may” is used to express permissibility and the word “can” is used to express possibility, e.g. a consequence of an action or an event. Contractual and legal considerations Attention is drawn to the following statutory regulations. a)Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974 1. b)Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999 2. c)Data Protection Act 1998 3. d)Disability Discrimination Act 2005 4. e)Special Educational Needs and Disability Act 2001 5. f)The Package Travel, Package Holidays and Package Tours Regulations 1992 6. This publication does not purport to include all the necessary provisions of a contract. Users are responsible for its correct application. Compliance with a British Standard cannot confer immunity from legal obligations. © BSI 2009 Licensed CopyChinese University of Hong Kong, 11/04/2009 07:12, Uncontrolled Copy, (c) BSI 1 BS 8848:2007+A1:2009 Introduction The British Standards Institution is recognized by the UK Government as the National Standards Body that establishes standards for a range of products and services. BS 8848 is one of these standards. BS 8848, named after the height in metres of Mount Everest in 2007, pulls together expertise and good practice into a new national standard for the safe management of overseas ventures. BS 8848 provides a specification for organizing and managing visits, fieldwork, expeditions, and adventurous activities, outside the United Kingdom. BS 8848 defines adventurous visits broadly: visits on which the provider and those involved choose to meet and overcome hazards that in normal daily life would be avoided. In scope this ranges, for example, from hazards such as encounters with mountains to the variations and demands of living in a country with differing cultural and religious requirements to those expected in the UK. Good practice, although sector specific, comprises many common and overlapping elements. Consequently, it is believed that there are no specific venture categories that automatically have to be excluded from the standard. BS 8848 is applicable to the voluntary, educational and charitable sectors of provision as well as the commercial provider of ventures. It acknowledges that there are other ways of demonstrating that providers are following good practice, such as conformity to the package travel regulations. Therefore, any sector specific or local guidance which follows its own good practice is likely to be consistent with BS 8848. BS 8848 is not age specific, applying equally to young people and mature adults, whether in groups or venturing as individuals. BS 8848 has as an underlying principle that the organization claiming conformity for a venture is responsible for all aspects, including safety, of that venture provided either on a voluntary basis or in return for payment. The standard requires that a single overall venture provider is identified. BS 8848 is not statutory and does not purport to include all the necessary provisions of a contract. Users are responsible for its correct application. BS 8848 sets out what is required if the standard is to be met. It does not explain how to achieve the standard and as such does not issue guidance. It leaves guidance to employer organizations in the private or voluntary sector and to public sector employers such as local authorities. BS 8848 can be used to help structure new guidance or to benchmark existing practice. Those wishing to claim conformance with BS 8848 can do so through self-declaration, or through other-party assessment, or by certification by an independent accredited organization. Potential participants and other stakeholders in a venture are likely to have greater confidence in those ventures assessed by an organization other than the venture provider. © BSI 2009 !0.0 Executive summary Licensed CopyChinese University of Hong Kong, 11/04/2009 07:12, Uncontrolled Copy, (c) BSI BS 8848:2007+A1:2009 2 !Who is BS 8848 for? Organizers, including local education departments, other school employers and travel and tour operators, of overseas activities. What does BS 8848 apply to? Overseas activities, including adventure holidays, university and academic fieldwork, expeditions, educational visits, gap-year activities and charity challenges.“ 0.1The standard This British Standard sets out requirements for the operational management, including safety, of all ventures outside the United Kingdom. The objective is to set out in clear, unambiguous language the actions and associated responsibilities essential to the provision of a risk-based safety management system for adventurous activities. In so doing it seeks to make available to those intending to provide such ventures a means of organizing their activities in accordance with currently accepted good practice in a manner that makes it possible objectively to verify compliance. 0.2Applicability of the standard This British Standard can be applied by any group or individual seeking to verify that ventures outside the UK organized, or provided by them, have safety management systems in place that are proportionate to the level of risk likely to be inherently or deliberately present in the venture and to the capabilities/life experience of the participants. By way of example, it is expected that it will be applicable to: ventures designed to extend the experience/capability of the individual by exposing them to challenges of a type or extent not usually met; ventures organized for work related purposes where exposure to some elements of risk is inherent. There are not believed to be any specific venture categories that automatically should be excluded. It is necessary that the nature, content and participant profile of each venture be viewed against the requirements of the standard for informed judgement to be made. It is suggested therefore that for any venture provider seeking to establish and demonstrate a level of risk management in line with currently established good practice the standard may offer an appropriate route. It can be expected however that for many package travel or similar holiday situations, application of the standard will be found not to be necessary. The very nature of the ventures that are the subject of BS 8848 makes it highly likely that a venture provider will decide to make use of third party providers to deliver elements of any particular venture. Where venture providers subcontract an element of the venture to a third party provider, compliance can be facilitated by the third party provider demonstrating compliance with the relevant clauses of this standard. Given the “risk based” approach adopted in BS 8848 and the fundamental requirement that venture providers have overall responsibility for all aspects of the ventures they offer, it is wholly appropriate that third party providers offering services into the market © BSI 2009 Licensed CopyChinese University of Hong Kong, 11/04/2009 07:12, Uncontrolled Copy, (c) BSI 3 BS 8848:2007+A1:2009 should be expected to comply with the clauses of BS 8848 that are relevant to the venture element that they offer and conversely that those providers should be able to claim compliance with the standard in principle, provided that they are fully aware of the implications of so doing. Attention is drawn to the fact that BS 8848 makes provision for the use of the standard for this purpose. Key types of venture provider, ventures, participants and environments to which this standard is applicable are shown in Figure 1, although this list should not be regarded as exhaustive. 0.3Fundamental principle The underlying principle of this standard is that the organization claiming conformance for a venture that it provides (i.e. the venture provider) is responsible for all aspects, including safety, of a venture provided either on a voluntary basis or in return for payment. Responsibility for providing constituent elements can be delegated but accountability for ensuring conformance with this standard remains with the venture provider. Additional guidance on the use of this standard from a consumer perspective is given in Annex A. The methodology for using this standard to claim partial conformance is given in Annex B and is of particular relevance to the relationship between venture provider and third party provider. Figure 1Examples of applicability of the standard Venture providerVenture Educational establishments in the further and higher education sector Commercial organizations Sole traders Voluntary and charity organizations Youth organizations !Local education departments and other school employers Travel and tour operators“ Adventurous activities Fieldwork Expeditions Courses EU visits Educational visits Placements (e.g. by universities or organizations) Volunteer placements Cultural exchanges Gap year activities Who participates in a ventureTypes of environment Groups Individuals Students Children Adults Vulnerable adults Third party providers Temperate Tropical Mountain and high altitude Polar Aquatic (including marine) Desert Underground Urban Rural Remote region © BSI 2009 Licensed CopyChinese University of Hong Kong, 11/04/2009 07:12, Uncontrolled Copy, (c) BSI BS 8848:2007+A1:2009 4 1 Scope This British Standard specifies requirements for the provision of visits, fieldwork, expeditions and adventurous activities undertaken for educational, research, training or recreational purposes outside the United Kingdom. It applies to ventures: a)where the hazards are such that without consideration by competent people the level of risk would be significant; b)at any location outside the United Kingdom including remote regions where climatic extremes, challenging terrain, health hazards or unfamiliar cultural experiences can be expected; c)organized for groups or individuals; d)that are planned, managed and evaluated from the UK by charitable organizations and independent groups or individuals. 2 Terms and definitions For the purposes of this British Standard, the following definitions apply. 2.1adventurous activity activity that involves an accepted element of risk, challenge or adventure and requires specialist skills for its safe management NOTE An adventurous activity generally takes place in a natural outdoor environment, however, it can be mimicked artificially and/or indoors. 2.2competent person someone who has the necessary and sufficient training, knowledge, experience, expertise and/or other qualities to complete their allotted task safely and effectively 2.3direct supervision supervision where a venture leader manages the participants during all or part of the venture with the ability