Risk Management for Outdoor Programs pre-conference-BELL conference 2025

Risk Management for Outdoor Programs

Pre-Conference Event for Bauhinia Experiential Learning Conference 2025

Risk Management for Outdoor Programs

Pre-Conference Event for Bauhinia Experiential Learning Conference 2025

World-Class Safety Training

Globally Renowned Curriculum

Viristar’s Risk Management for Outdoor Programs course offers a comprehensive training in safety management for outdoor, wilderness, travel, field-based, adventure, and related programs.

The course covers theoretical models of incident causation and prevention, safety standards, and detailed procedures for helping prevent and mitigate incidents.

The curriculum addresses risk assessment and safety management practices, an overview of general legal principles, and adventure activity standards and good practice guides.

Graduates complete the course with valuable, practical skills and expert guidance for improving safety at their organization.

LEARN

The science behind why incidents occur

GAIN

Skills and knowledge essential for managing risk

CREATE

A custom action plan for increasing safety

IMPROVE

Safety outcomes at your organization

Course Syllabus

Course topics include:

Risk assessments
Experiential safety standards
Legal concepts
Safety culture
Human factors
Schools & providers
Equipment management
Incident reporting
Emergency response planning
Media relations
Systems thinking
And more

ENROLL NOW

Course Structure

The academically rigorous and intellectually challenging course is offered over three days, 12-14 February 2025.

The training runs from 8:30 am to 5:30 each day, with a one-hour lunch break. The course is 24 hours in total.

The course will be held at ISF Academy, 1 Kong Sin Wan Road, Pokfulam, Hong Kong.

Coffee, Tea and water will be provided.

Tuition: HK$4,100

Course textbook included

Participants are provided with the acclaimed 218-page course textbook, Risk Management for Outdoor Programs: A Guide to Safety in Outdoor Education, Recreation and Adventure in online e-book format.

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"The textbook was concise and written in a manner that is easy to read and understand."

Jake Taylor, Safety Manager

Camp Beaumont Hong Kong

"Viristar's risk management textbook was thorough and hit all the high notes."

Rachel Garrett, Experiential Education Coordinator

Jackson Hole Community School

"Well written textbook--clearly laid out and to the point. A useful reference resource."

Ben Rowe, Head Rowing Coach
Royal Hong Kong Yacht Club

This course is for you if you are:

A manager, program coordinator, administrator, or executive leader in a CAS/AYP, outdoor, adventure, travel or experiential program
A Risk Management Committee or Safety Committee member, a technical advisor on outdoor or adventure activities, or a trustee or director with governance duties
An individual (such as a field-based activity leader, facilitator, instructor or guide) interested in a managerial role with safety responsibility

Certification

Course completion certificate issued by Viristar
Certificate valid for three years from date of course completion
To be awarded certificate, participants must be present all three days, complete all course activities, fully engage in discussions and group activities

Frequently Asked Questions

Is the course content relevant for my country/territory?

Yes. The course curriculum is designed to be applicable to outdoor, adventure, and experience-based programs anywhere in the world. The principles of incident causation and prevention taught in the course, and the standards of good practice covered, are relevant everywhere. Participants are provided resources to identify locally-relevant legal, insurance, activity-specific, and other resources specific to their circumstance.

Is the Risk Management for Outdoor Programs recognized by others?

Yes. Viristar’s Risk Management for Outdoor Programs course has been recognized as a valuable professional credential by government agencies, higher educational institutions, outdoor programs, and industry bodies worldwide. Government entities in nations including the USA, Singapore, Canada and Australia have enrolled employees—or entire teams of employees—in the course, and the training is recognized by the Association for Experiential Education, the Association for Outdoor Recreation and Education, the International Schools Experiential Education Network, the California Association for Environmental & Outdoor Education, the American Camp Association, the International Outdoor Education Federation, the South African Adventure Industry Association, and the Outdoor Council of Canada, among other industry bodies.

The training has been educationally endorsed by the American Camp Association in 2021, and graduates are eligible for Continuing Education Units from Colorado State University Pueblo (USA). Outdoor, adventure and experiential programs in over 60 countries on six continents have enrolled their staff in the Risk Management for Outdoor Programs course. The outdoor risk management training sector is generally not regulated by government bodies, however; consequently, no formal accreditations by government authorities are known to exist for trainings such as Viristar’s Risk Management for Outdoor Programs course.

Do I have to be working for an outdoor, adventure or experiential program?

It’s not necessary to be working for an outdoor, adventure or experiential program in order to enroll in and learn from the training. Part of the course involves participants evaluating risk management practices at an organization with which they are directly familiar. Therefore, it is helpful if you are working for (in a paid or volunteer capacity) or have recently worked for an outdoor, adventure-based or experiential learning organization, but this is not required.

Recent Organizations

Graduates of Viristar’s Risk Management for Outdoor Programs course come from leading institutions in over 60 countries and territories around the world, including: