Dunstan Mountains by Greg McIntyre, Fat Tyre Adventures, Queenstown

Dunstan Mountains by Greg McIntyre, Fat Tyre Adventures, Queenstown

Released today - Adventure Tourism Safety Review

TIA's perspective on the review and its recommendations

Today the government released the final report into the Review of Risk Management and Safety in the Adventure and Outdoor Commercial Sectors in New Zealand 2009/10.  This includes a series of recommendations that will impact on many TIA members. TIA was part of the team that undertook the six month review. In this special T-Mail we give you our perspective of the government's report and recommendations, and outline what will happen next. Read our media release. 

Background to the review 

On 16 September 2009, Prime Minister John Key wrote to the Minister of Labour Kate Wilkinson expressing concern about a number of incidents in the adventure and outdoor commercial sectors. The Department of Labour (DOL) was chosen to lead a group to investigate and report back on the current situation and ways of improving risk management and safety in the sector.

The review was timely, given the recent intense focus on this sector. The families involved have our deepest sympathies and we want to do all we can to improve the sector and ensure complacency never sets in.

New Zealand's adventure sector has built its international reputation on world-best practice, however there is always room for improvement. Because of adventure tourism's innovative nature there are a huge number of activities involved, and to take one umbrella view of the sector made a lot of sense.

At the commencement of the review, Minister of Labour Kate Wilkinson said she wanted to ensure New Zealand's adventure tourism sector retained the dynamism which sets it apart from the rest of the world, while also ensuring the best possible safety measures are in place.

TIA's approach to the review

TIA believes in operators accepting primary responsibility for visitor safety – minute by minute, hour by hour,  month by month. However, we also want operators to be working within a strong, consistent national framework – a framework that is weighted towards guidance and support.

From day one of the review, TIA worked hard to remind other working-group representatives that “every operator wants to avoid incidents and accidents”. This approach helped ensure recommendations were developed that focused primarily on operator needs, rather than the development of highly prescriptive regulation supported by punitive action.

From the industry submissions received during the consultation phase, a set of safety principles was developed that were regarded as relevant and good-practice across all activity groupings. While the review showed the sector to be addressing safety management at many levels, it also highlighted activities that carried heightened risk, but appeared poorly supported on matters of safety.

The suite of recommendations will effectively address areas of concern highlighted in the review, but we are also aware that ‘getting the detail right’ will be critical if the recommendations are to work well in practice.  

TIA comments on five key recommendations

Here are five key recommendations and TIA's comments: (To read the full arguments for all recommendations, visit the Final Report).

Recommendation One

Introduce  a registration scheme for the adventure and outdoor commercial sectors with a requirement for up-front and ongoing external safety audits of operators’ safety management provisions (to a level commensurate with the risk) and an obligation on operators to keep their registration up-to-date.

TIA comment:

Operators who have activity-specific regulation and/or have chosen to be externally reviewed by a third party, e.g. Qualmark or OutdoorsMark, should experience little or no change, other than better quality guidance and support. There will be a modest registration fee for the unregulated.

For operators that carry heightened risk and have neither specific regulation nor any form of credible external assessment, then the next phase of the review is likely to assess this group and decide which will qualify for compulsory start-up and on-going audits at a frequency and depth commensurate with the risks.

A real strength of the registration scheme is that it will enable targeted communication with operators who may have commenced their activity in isolation and continue to operate without well targeted support.  In addition, it recognises existing auditing bodies and largely keeps the responsibility for safety at the coal face.

New, currently unthought-of activities will need to be registered. By doing so they will receive guidance and support to help them confidently and safely integrate into the wider adventure sector. 

Recommendation Two

Establish an industry-led entity to strengthen the safety management framework for the sectors

TIA comment:

While the detail has yet to be worked through, the concept of a  single group that maintains a bird's-eye view of the sector and coordinates appropriate safety initiatives has considerable merit. TIA will be promoting the entity to exist within an existing organisation, as opposed to creating another stand-alone body.

Recommendation Three

Development of a practice guide for the sector

TIA comment:

The review identified operators who are guided primarily by the Health and Safety in Employment (HSE) Act, yet find they lack clear information and direction on how to meet their safety obligations. It is anticipated that guidance material may describe how to develop and implement a tailored Safety Management System (SMS) with topics that include the development of standard operating procedures, safety reporting systems and crisis plans. TIA has offered to facilitate this piece of work and believes it will have value across the entire sector, particularly for those at start-up.

Recommendation Four

Evaluation of the voluntary safety auditing schemes for adventure and outdoor commercial sector operations to ensure they are fit for purpose. 

TIA comment:

Given the implication of recommendation one above, TIA supports the evaluation of schemes to ensure they provide operators and the wider industry with tangible value. Auditing schemes must be fit for purpose and weighted towards providing operators with advice and direction.

Recommendation Five

Investigate the development of a register of government-accredited adventure tourism-related safety auditing schemes

TIA comment:

TIA believes  government-accredited auditing schemes may be required to ensure auditing  quality is maintained and the credibility of the proposed regime maintained.  

What's next...

TIA is committed to working with DOL, other key organisations and most importantly our members, to ensure the recommendations result in workable, positive outcomes for the adventure and outdoor sector. While the timeline has yet to be announced, TIA is keen to start work quickly on these recommendations and intends being fully involved with their implementation. We will keep members up to date with developments and with continue to work alongside you on this important issue.

For more information, contact either TIA Advocacy Manager Geoff Ensor or Industry Advocate Evan Freshwater.