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

  • Ross McHenry

    Program Coordinator, The Hutong, Beijing, China

  • Neil Haarhoff

    Director of Outdoor Education, Stanford Lake College, Limpopo, South Africa

  • [Viristar’s Risk Management for Outdoor Programs textbook is] a useful, systematic, comprehensive and practical reference.

    Wenqi Xu

    Associate Professor, Wuhan Sports University, Georgia, USA

  • Wildly beneficial.

    Rachel Garrett

    Experiential Education Coordinator, Jackson Hole Community School, Jackson, Wyoming USA

  • 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

  • Viristar does an excellent job guiding experienced outdoor program operators to see areas of improvement we otherwise wouldn’t see.

    Bill Feng

    Senior Manager of Operations, Keru Knowledge, Shanghai, China

  • The book is comprehensive and well organized, with visuals that capture the text perfectly!

    Monica Barrios

    Owner, Director, Inside Out, North Carolina, USA

  • [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

  • Crystal Hudelson

    Director of Rock Instruction, Climbers of Color, Washington state, USA

  • Karen P.S. Tan, Ph.D.

    Assistant Professor, Middle Tennessee State University, Murfreesboro, Tennessee USA

  • Comprehensive in value-adding to my risk management knowledge.

    Boo Hui Wen

    Senior Instructor, Outward Bound Singapore, Singapore

  • An in depth scientific approach to safety management in outdoor programmes.

    Paul-John D’Rozario

    Head of Outdoor Education, Bangkok Patana School, Bangkok, Thailand

  • This course breaks the whole risk assessment down into bit size and meaningful thought processes.

    Tony Tan

    Chief Executive Officer, InnoTrek Pte Ltd, Singapore

  • Viristar has nailed their online learning approach. Course material is rigorous, up-to-date and highly relevant and practical to anyone involved in outdoor and experiential learning.

    Matthew Schulte

    Director of Local & Global Engagement, Canadian International School Hong Kong, Hong Kong

  • We now have a framework of where to go from here to ensure safety across our organization.

    Jacob Wall

    Program Director, Society for Wilderness Stewardship, Grand Lake, Colorado USA