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.

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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 60 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.

Testimonials

  • I feel more equipped and better prepared now than I have ever been.

    Jon Twofifty

    Outdoor Experiential Trainer, Urbanite Camps, Nairobi, Kenya

  • Sharon Buczaczer

    Program Director, Wilderness Youth Project, California, USA

  • Amazing course. I have learned so much and have more knowledge on the topic that I can take back to my outdoor program.

    Mackenzie Holbrook

    Former Outdoor Program Coordinator, Colorado Mesa University Outdoor Program, Colorado, USA

  • This course was comprehensive, and the most informative part were the weekly self-assessments to reflect on where our organization was in terms of risk management.

    Beta Eaton

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

  • I feel more confident, motivated, and better prepared to make improvements in our risk management process.

    Daniela Borontiș

    Educational Programs Coordinator, Scout Leader, Romanian Scouts, Mehedinți, Romania

  • The Risk Management for Outdoor programs course has helped us tremendously as we plan our expansion into a new geography.

    Johannes Visser

    Head of Expansion, OrcaNation, Nairobi, Kenya

  • The most comprehensive risk management course I have completed. I highly recommend Viristar’s Risk Management for Outdoor Programs training.

    Phil Austen-Smith

    Expedition Director, Ability Expeditions, Malaysian Borneo

  • Our instructor was fantastic and extremely knowledgeable. This course was a great start for me to build the risk management approach for my organization.

    Noam Pratzer

    Founder, Get Out Adventures, Toronto, Canada

  • Lisette Gachanja

    Program Director, Urbanite Camps, Nairobi, Kenya

  • Jennifer Blackaller Ruiz

    Manager–St. Lawrence, Ocean Bridge; Ocean Wise Conservation Association, British Columbia, Canada

  • Provided a good framework to improve our organization’s risk management.

    Sebastian Wong

    Campus Health & Safety Specialist, Singapore American School, Singapore

  • [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

  • Every outdoor program company should enroll their leaders in this. Excellent course!

    Dr. Kishore Dogra

    Director, Adventure 1 Zone, Maharashtra, India

  • This was an amazing course that I would highly recommend to anyone looking to deepen their understanding of risk management for outdoor programs.

    Matshediso Kgamane

    Owner, DrK Travel Clinic, Botswana

  • The materials and teaching are excellent.

    Wanitchayakorn Buasuwan

    Experience Program Coordinator, NatureMind-ED, Krabi, Thailand