Textbook

Risk Management for Outdoor Programs: A Guide to Safety in Outdoor Education, Recreation and Adventure

The acclaimed textbook Risk Management for Outdoor Programs: A Guide to Safety in Outdoor Education, Recreation and Adventure is available for purchase in paperback and eBook format.

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Your outdoor, experiential or travel program provides fun, personal growth, adventure. It changes lives. But are your safety systems up to standards? If something happens, are you prepared to respond?


Risk Management for Outdoor Programs: A Guide to Safety in Outdoor Education, Recreation and Adventure provides essential knowledge for any adventure or outdoor professional. Program managers, executives, volunteers and group leaders will learn critical approaches and strategies for successfully anticipating and addressing risks.

Packed with real-life stories, current research findings, and good practice guidance, Risk Management for Outdoor Programs: a Guide to Safety in Outdoor Education, Recreation and Adventure gives expert advice on:

  • Approaches to Risk Management
  • Standards
  • Legal Considerations
  • Safety Culture
  • Activities and Program Areas
  • Staff
  • Equipment
  • Participants
  • Subcontractors
  • Transportation
  • Business Administration
  • Risk Transfer
  • Incident Management
  • Incident Reporting
  • Incident Reviews
  • Risk Management Committee
  • Medical Screening
  • Risk Management Reviews
  • Media Relations
  • Documentation
  • Accreditation
  • Seeing Systems

Use the button below to download a 15-page sample of the book, including Contents, Preface, and Introduction.

Download sample

Price: ‎USD 59

Author: Jeff A. Baierlein
Publisher: ‎Viristar (March 21, 2019)
Sold by: Amazon

Language: English

Paperback
Length: 218 pages
Item Weight: ‎ .75 kg | 1.65 pounds
Dimensions: ‎ 21.6 x 1.4 x 28 cm | 8.5 x 0.54 x 11 inches
ISBN-10: 1733349111
ISBN-13: 978-1733349116
OCLC Number: 1273556703

eBook

The e-book edition, a Kindle e-book download, is available for virtually all devices, including

Android, iPhone, tablets, Mac and PC, with the free Kindle app.

Features of this print replica edition include:

  • Notes and highlights
  • Search, copy and paste
  • Zoom and pan
  • Pop-out linked table-of-contents
  • Page numbers matching print edition

Risk Management for Outdoor Programs: A Guide to Safety in Outdoor Education, Recreation and Adventure is used in university classrooms, educational travel programs, adventure tourism operations, search and rescue, adventure centers, outdoor education and forest schools, camps, wilderness therapy programs, park and recreation settings, and more.

About the Author

Jeff Baierlein (he/him) is the director of the consultancy Viristar, providing safety, curriculum, and strategy services to outdoor, adventure, travel, and experiential programs worldwide.

Jeff began working as an outdoor and adventure professional in 1987.  He has over 1000 field days leading mountaineering, sailing, whitewater and flatwater canoeing, backpacking, whitewater and sea kayaking, rock climbing, canyoning and caving expeditions up to three months in length. 

Jeff is the former Executive Director of Chesapeake Bay Outward Bound School and of the Boojum Institute for Experiential Education. He has worked as an EMT and on Search and Rescue teams, leading rescues in North America and Asia.

Jeff has provided risk management reviews, expert witness services, incident reviews, and safety trainings for organizations in over 60 countries in Asia, Europe, Africa, North America, South America, and Africa.

Jeff lives on the traditional lands of the Coast Salish people in Seattle, Washington, USA.

Testimonials

  • Each organization in the outdoor and experiential education industry can benefit from this enriching course.

    Mariya Georgieva

    Program Manager, LEAF Academy, Bratislava, Slovakia

  • Lisette Gachanja

    Program Director, Urbanite Camps, Nairobi, Kenya

  • The course provided systematic approach to safety management of organisations.

    Rene Valner

    Coach, Sea Kayaking Estonia, Viljandi, Estonia

  • This course provided me with the language, direction and information that I needed in order to help improve my organization’s current Risk Management approach.

    Allison Hill

    Director of Programs, Momenta, Manitoba, Canada

  • Well written textbook–clearly laid out and to the point. A useful reference resource.

    Ben Rowe

    Head Rowing Coach, Royal Hong Kong Yacht Club, Hong Kong

  • Kelli Jackson

    Leader, Women’s Adventure ACT, Canberra, Australia

  • The Viristar team is really passionate about safety in the outdoors–it manifests vividly in their training!

    Shamsiah Ismail

    Director, Bila Bila Odyssey, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

  • This course covers everything you need to know.

    Nick Chaddock

    Outdoor Education Coordinator, North London Collegiate School Jeju, Jeju-Do, South Korea

  • It’s well thought out and thought-provoking. Thanks to this course we are able to make valuable strides toward mitigating risks more effectively.

    Mike Lewis

    Founder, General Director, YMCE Group, Beijing, China

  • [Viristar’s Risk Management for Outdoor Programs textbook is] so good and has all the information I need.

    Peter Osongti Ayompe

    Outdoor Education Specialist, Tanglin Trust School, Singapore

  • The practical training was great and I learned so much.

    Aron Breki

    WFR student, Keilir Academy Adventure Guide Studies Program, Reykjanesbaer, Iceland

  • Viristar’s Risk Management for Outdoor Programs course was a true game-changer for me.

    Thinuwan Gayantha Nanayakkara

    Freelance Outdoor Educator, Alpha Experiential, Rajagiriya, Sri Lanka

  • The course was excellent–both in the content and the manner of delivery.

    Ali Lott

    Assistant Head of Science Faculty, Tanglin Trust School, Singapore

  • The most comprehensive risk management course I have completed. I highly recommend Viristar’s Risk Management for Outdoor Programs training.

    Phil Austen-Smith

    Expedition Director, Ability Expeditions, Malaysian Borneo

  • An extremely helpful reference tool that I am going to keep within reach….. full of useful resources and sample formats for documentation.

    Martin Foakes

    Head of Outdoor Education, Tanglin Trust School, Singapore