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 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

  • Billy Teeton

    Director of Outdoor Education, Woodridge College and Preparatory, South Africa

  • It provides a useful overview of risk management, accompanied by a relevant level of detail.

    Danyi Prieto

    Biologist, Sustainability Department, Colombia Inedita SAS, FULLSKY, Cundinamarca, Colombia

  • A must-do course for all outdoor risk managers.

    Sebastian Wong

    Campus Health & Safety Specialist, Singapore American School, Singapore

  • The course helped me understand what we need to have in place to implement a safe outdoor education program for our students.

    Bill Kralovec

    Director, Tashkent International School, Tashkent, Uzbekistan

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

    Jon Twofifty

    Outdoor Experiential Trainer, Urbanite Camps, Nairobi, Kenya

  • 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

  • Useful and practical…highly recommended for anyone working in the outdoor industry, at any stage, level or position.

    Graham Bos

    Program Facilitator, Power to Be, Vancouver, Canada

  • Well written textbook–clearly laid out and to the point. A useful reference resource.

    Ben Rowe

    Head Rowing Coach, Royal Hong Kong Yacht Club, Hong Kong

  • This course has strengthened my knowledge in many aspects associated with risk management and will be beneficial for us.

    Paul Yuen

    Programme Manager, Camp Beaumont Hong Kong, Hong Kong

  • Anindita Chatterjee

    Field Leader, iEXP 360, Maharashtra, India

  • Reid Burland

    Owner, Geronimo Construction, North Dakota, USA

  • 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

  • Very thought provoking…you come away with a concrete, actionable plan that will help you develop risk management further within your organization.

    Roisin Pearson

    Deputy Head, Safeguarding & Well-being Education Specialist, British School Manila, Manila, Philippines

  • Awesome textbook by Viristar–clear and detailed.

    Ira Christian

    Director of Outdoor Studies, Manzanita School and Institute, California, USA