Risk Assessments
A Quantock Orienteers guide
Please read this alongside our policy documents, in particular the Safety Policy
According to British Orienteering rules, every orienteering event or activity must have a written risk assessment.
The Organiser is responsible for the risk assessment, but it could be started by someone else. It will need input from both the Organiser and the Planner. The Organiser needs to ask the Planner to identify what hazards there are on the courses.
To complete the risk assessment ideally the Organiser should go to the site in advance, to see the layout, check mobile reception and to avoid nasty surprises on the day.
The Controller (if there is one) must check and sign the risk assessment. So if the Controller is not happy with the arrangements then changes have to be made before the risk assessment can be signed off.
For activities without a formal Controller the risk assessment must be checked and signed off by a licensed Organiser or licensed Coach. We have a number of such people in the club, please ask.
It is then the Organiser's duty to make sure any safety measures promised in the risk assessment are implemented on the day.
Why is risk assessment required?
Risk assessment is a normal part of most sports.
Risk assessment is a process that should result in reducing safety risks down to a reasonable level, for example by:
- avoiding unnecessary exposure to danger
- by prompting actions which will reduce the risk
It is not possible to eliminate all risk, so accidents may still happen. Written risk assessments are highly likely to be referred to in the event of any claim or inquiry. A written risk assessment will be very important in defending the club and its officials. Our insurers have described a non-orienteering example where processes and procedures were followed but were not written down and in-court damages were awarded against the sports club involved.
Particular issues
Traffic
This is usually the biggest risk.
Our insurers, and the rules, do not allow juniors (anyone under 16 on the day) to cross public roads unless one of the following applies:
- road crossing marshals are provided at every crossing point,
- all juniors are shadowed by an adult, able to supervise the road crossing,
- the road has good visibility and traffic speed is 20mph or less.
There is no avoiding this rule. This road crossing rule also applies to walking routes to registration/start/finish.
It is therefore a very bad idea for junior courses (i.e. white, yellow, orange or light green) to go anywhere close to roads. Adults should be ok, but note that juniors sometimes run on green or higher courses, so unfortunately you will have to prohibit juniors from entering those courses if they have road crossings.
Therefore, ask:
- Do courses cross roads?
- Do courses cross the parking area or the access road?
- If the answer to either the above is yes, where exactly and what kind of road?
Safety can be enhanced by a road crossing marshal. But note the marshal can only act as a look-out for runners, they have no authority to try to control traffic on a public road.
If you are not happy with the arrangements, change the course designs.
First aid
The club has an emergency procedure within our Safety Policy.
Ideally we would have a dedicated, qualified first aider on hand at all times. This is achievable for larger events such as a QOFL, but with the limited people available at things like JOG this is rarely possible and the first-aider may also have another job such as download.
Search and Rescue
The club has search and rescue procedures within our Safety Policy.
If the event area is particularly large and/or it would be difficult to evacuate an injured person, then it may be worth having a pre-prepared event specific search and rescue plan. This could involve sourcing an off-road vehicle and driver, identifying driveable routes, and scouting out alternative forest access points in advance.
Remember the event is not over until all controls are collected. So please keep enough helpers (4 minimum) until all collectors have returned, just in case.
Weather
Extreme weather can be a danger, particularly in mid-winter. Occasionally event organisers require competitors to wear or carry waterproof cagoules, but that is only common on long distance events. However, the biggest danger from the weather may be the effect on road safety for people driving to the event. Consider cancellation if the roads are not safe.
Sample Forms
QO has modified the British Orienteering template and created some generic risk assessments which you can use as a basis.
Download whichever of these forms best fits your event. If your event is non-standard, you might find you have to take bits from more than one.
Read through the standard measures. For each one, if it is appropriate for your event, just put Yes in the first blank column. If it isn't, put No and then create special measures to make it suitably safe.
If there is a hazard not covered, create a new row in the table and fill it in.
During the Covid pandemic the club had some generic risk assessments with agreed Covid specific actions. These are included here for reference only, hopefully we will not need these again: