I think the world’s safest situation is to be tucked up in a futon on the floor of a padded cell on the floor of a one-storey earthquake-proof building in a leafy suburb where nothing ever happens.
Independent Travel Trainers take real risks with the lives of their trainees, but that’s the whole idea. We are teaching people about risks so that they can handle them and make their lives safer.
It’s an awful thought but I know that the biggest learning curve for one of my students is a near-miss when crossing the road. I hurry to say I’m not advocating this as a method. The point is that we have to expose them to risks that are as controlled as possible but which still teach them respect for various dangers.
That’s why, rather than taking them out and waiting for the truly awful to happen, we use Risk Assessments to back up everything we do.
Now I’m not part of the Health and Safety Industry, but I know that it’s vital that Risk Assessments are not just a paper exercise. You’ve got to know them, better still, have written them and know that the details apply to yourself and are not generic verbiage. If the worst happens (and if you’ve used them properly it probably won’t) they tell everybody about the reasonable precautions you took to stop the worst happening. |
They shouldn’t be an endless catalogue of every possible mishap. If Risk Assessments are to be usable they should be brief and to the point. The controls you put in should be what you actually do and not wish lists.
You should review them regularly because circumstances change.
You should think about them on the street corner before you decide this is the place to cross with your trainee.
No, they’re not bedtime reading. Try Mickey Spillane or a good bodice-ripper. But they should be the basis of your training. More than any other job, risks are what travel training is about.
Even if you’re tucked up in your futon all day, you might be killed by that piece of toast you ate this morning.
Have a good day!
Don Walker
Incidentally, I’m willing to share my Risk Assessments around. Is anyone else willing to risk this? Contact us. |
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for students aged between 16 and 19.Content Management websites by Backbone Solutions.com