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.

Buy Now

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 70 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.

  • [Viristar’s Risk Management for Outdoor Programs textbook is] like a bible for those who conduct outdoor programs.

    Dr. Kishore Dogra

    Director, Adventure 1 Zone, Maharashtra, India

  • The textbook offered valuable insights, practical guidance, and thoughtful analysis that will undoubtedly benefit anyone involved in outdoor activities.

    Samson Lumbwe

    Swimming Coach, Lifeguard, Physical Education & Recreation Teacher, Trident Prep Kalumbila, Kalumbila, Zambia

  • Fantastic practical examples!

    Tiffany Cavanagh

    Head of Girls Boarding, Martin House Trust School, United Kingdom

  • [Viristar’s Risk Management for Outdoor Programs textbook] covered, in much detail, all the conceivable aspects of risk management in outdoor programs.

    Ali Lott

    Assistant Head of Science Faculty, Tanglin Trust School, Singapore

  • Words can’t express how useful it is for me.

    Kamaran Rasul

    Director, Hawraz Climbing Organization, Iraq

  • [Viristar’s Risk Management for Outdoor Programs textbook is] very comprehensive, well laid out, easy to follow, and has excellent content and useful examples.

    Paul Delane

    Head of Outdoor Education, Sacred Heart College, Sorrento, Western Australia

  • [Viristar’s Risk Management for Outdoor Programs textbook is] a great resource…I know that I will use it often.

    Beta Eaton

    Director of Global & Experiential Learning, Kents Hill School, Maine, USA

  • The textbook is a great resource to use alongside the course and outside of the course.

    Gijs deJong

    Head of Outdoor Education & Sports, The Global College, Madrid, Spain

  • The Risk Management textbook is comprehensive and well-organized. It is a great reference when creating and improving your company’s Risk Management Plan.

    Molly Alden-Rabenau

    Owner and Director of Operations, Costa Rica Explorations, Utah, USA

  • The textbook is comprehensive and well-organized. It is a great reference when creating and improving your company’s Risk Management Plan.

    Molly Alden-Rabenau

    Owner and Director of Operations, Costa Rica Explorations, Utah, USA

  • Useful reference as I implement my strategic improvement plan.

    Richard Irvine

    Owner, Richard Irvine Outdoor Learning, United Kingdom

  • 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

  • An in-depth resource which can support risk management.

    Jake Hammond

    Head of Outdoor Education, Australian International School, Singapore

  • The textbook is comprehensive, well written, easy to understand and very relevant to the nature of risk management in the outdoor industry

    Alan Champkins

    Head of Centre, Ndubaluba Outdoor Centre, Mkushi, Zambia

  • Very practical textbook that provides rationales behind each theory.

    Bill Feng

    Senior Manager of Operations, Keru Knowledge, Shanghai, China