Guiding Principles - Risk Control
Assess risks and develop safety plans for individual sites
Every organisation or individual property owner should have a visitor safety plan. This should set out the overall management framework and procedures for carrying out individual site assessments. It should contain an overview of accident data and consider what levels of risk are acceptable. What constitutes a ‘site’ will vary between organisations, and there will usually be a hierarchy of safety plans. A canal, a country park, or a forest could each have its own safety plan. Within them, a lock, a car park, or a picnic area could need an individual risk assessment and a safety plan.
The risk assessment would typically involve identifying activities on the site, the potential accidents, their causes, the likelihood of them happening and the possible consequences. If the risks are judged acceptable, then no action is necessary. The safety plan, however, would indicate the need to carry out a further assessment after a specified interval, or when use of the site changed. If the risks were unacceptable, further investigation might be required, or risk control measures might be planned. These measures should take into account available guidance from the Health and Safety Executive and other relevant bodies. The concept of doing what is ‘reasonably practicable’ should be considered in terms of meeting conservation, recreation and landscape objectives as well as considering the time, trouble, cost and effort of reducing risk.
It is valuable to carry out the site assessment through the minds of the visitors and by considering the activities they are engaged in. Look out for risks that some activities may pose to other users. Consider new activities that bring new risks.
Risk control measures should be consistent
Consistency is important within a particular location; from site to site within a regional or national organisation; and between different organisations. Ideally, the visitor should know what to expect at any location. Inconsistencies in the application of risk controls (for example the absence or presence of fencing at similar cliff edges and watersides) make it very difficult for visitors to make informed judgements about accepting risk. Note that consistency is not the same as uniformity. Design solutions should be allowed to reflect the individual character of each site.
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