Reviewed June 2016 Key Adventures

Risk Assessment – Improvised Raft Building

This risk assessment report is for advice only. All technicians and instructors must actively and continually risk assess throughout all activities, taking appropriate action to reduce the risk presented to clients and themselves to an acceptable level. All documents presented within the Key H&S Policy are dynamic, i.e. they are to be updated through discussion between technicians, instructors and Simon McElroy.

Raft building instructors will periodically be observed by Simon McElroy or a delegated technical expert.

Post incident/accident procedure: Minimise further risk (to yourself, your clients, the public, any casualty), manage incident or accident, evacuate participants, evacuate casualty, retrieve equipment, notify Event Coordinator and/or Simon McElroy (07721 906030), complete accident/incident report as required.

Hazard / Risks / Solutions
Inappropriate or incorrect advice, instruction and guidance. / Distress, injury and illness of any nature; / All instructors must be appropriately qualified and must be able demonstrate at least two years of full time experience as an instructor of which a significant proportion must be in similar environments using similar skills.
All instructors must hold a remote area emergency first aid award, and have the capability to deal with any situation they encounter.
All instructors must carry appropriate emergency equipment including a first aid kit, group shelter/survival bag, source of heat, high-energy food, headtorch, and the appropriate activity specific emergency and rescue equipment.
All instructors must be able to contact the relevant emergency services (Police and Rescue) for support in the event of an emergency.
Water / Drowning;
Bacterial contamination leading to irritation of the digestive tract;
Algae contamination leading to irritation of the skin and digestive tract and poisoning;
Immersion shock;
Hypothermia; / All participants are to be supervised (maximum ratio 1:8) at all times whilst involved in raft building and paddling, i.e. on land and whilst on the water.
Participants should be briefed about the risks and consequences and, where appropriate, given clearly delimited areas (safe areas, no-go areas, etc).
All participants, observers and support staff should wear buoyancy aids at all times whilst on the water and close to the edge of the water. However, this is to be left to the discretion of the instructor/technician/Event Coordinator, as there are factors that can make this unnecessary, e.g. hot weather on a shallow beach. Instructors must actively assess the risk and identify a distance from the water within which a buoyancy aid must be worn.
Instructors should ensure they have the means to extract anyone from the water at any time and should consider changing the activity site if this is not possible.
Improvised rafts must not be taken onto swift moving water.
Minimise contact with water and restrict swimming, though be reasonable in appropriately safe conditions.
Any cuts/grazes should be washed in clean water and covered where appropriate.
Participants should be advised to wash soon after the activity and to shower if they have fallen into the water.
Algae levels should be investigated in hot weather – seek local expertise.
Participants are to wear clothing or wetsuits and footwear appropriate for the prevailing conditions.
In cold water conditions, instructors should be aware of the possibility of participants succumbing to immersion shock and should aim to recover them to the surface in a very short period of time; (say 15 seconds);
Instructors are to carry a source of heat and shelter;
Instructors should actively monitor the condition of participants, observers and other staff members and should be pro-active in ensuring that the onset of hypothermia is reduced and is unlikely.
Hard terrain, in and around water: / Injuries caused by slip trip fall or from interaction with bed of river/lake or submerged rocks etc. / Instructors should advise participants of the risks and the potential consequences and consider delimiting the area in which the activity is run.
The instructor should consider whether giving participants helmets to wear is appropriate.
All participants should wear shoes/trainers/boots at all times (not bare feet or wetsuit socks).
Especial care must be taken whilst manoeuvring rafts and equipment over rough terrain. Consider the choice of site.
Equipment on land: / Injuries caused by tripping over equipment, lifting heavy items, or being hit by equipment in the hands of others.
Injuries caused by equipment in poor repair. / Equipment to be set out neatly in separated sets for each group with sufficient space between assembly locations to enable spars to be turned with reasonable clearance.
Advice on lifting and handling to be given.
Appropriate PPE to be supplied e.g. gloves, helmets and briefings given to ensure their use as and when appropriate.
Participants should be advised not to lift barrels and poles above waist height to reduce risk of head injury.
Younger/smaller participants should be advised to share larger and longer loads e.g. barrels planks and poles.
If a raft is built upside down and turned over, instructors must control the lifting and turning operation and ensure that sufficient care is taken to prevent injury. Consider briefing the group to avoid having to do this.
Raft building equipment must be in good repair. Poles must be relatively smooth and present little chance of splinters, cuts, etc. Ropes must be in good condition.
Ropes and raft equipment in water: / Participants injured, drowned or seriously worried by being trapped on raft, or amongst debris, held in or under water.
Injuries caused by paddle use: / In most cases, instructors must ensure that any raft taken on the water is sturdily built and that the chance of it coming apart is minimal.
When running a session in which responsibility for the water-worthiness is to be left with the participants, instructors should monitor construction and should make themselves reasonably aware of the sturdiness of each raft. This information and awareness should be shared amongst the staff team.
All rafts must be accompanied by a support boat (powerboat or open canoe) and observed by a technician or instructor (max 1:8 ratio). If there are multiple support boats and the paddling route is close to land, support can be offered from the bank, and included in the above ratio.
If a raft disintegrates, the instructor responsible for that raft must offer immediate assistance, and must monitor those in the water to ensure that none are trapped by the raft-building materials. Swimmers must be monitored continually until they reach the land. Other support staff must be informed immediately so that they can support the remaining rafts.
Instructors must carry knife or scissors capable of cutting any lashings used.
Barrels must be sealed and appropriately inflated.
Instructors must consider that there may be unknown objects underwater that may restrain swimmers, and be prepared to manage such an event. Ideally sites should be checked beforehand or “known” to be safe.
Instructors should consider the need for helmets whilst paddling rafts, especially where the rafts are small and the participants close together.
Cold water;
Inclement weather: / Lack of focus/interest;
Hypothermia;
Exhaustion;
Dehydration;
Hyperthermia; / Consider using warm-up exercises and activities, incentives for effective action, and competition to inspire effort and haste so that participants remain warm and engaged if the weather is poor. This may help to keep them focused and maintain their safety awareness.
Instructors are to ensure appropriate clothing is worn and that participants are able to change within reasonable time after becoming wet/cold.
All participants should have access to a dry change of clothing and spare footwear.
Instructors must carry an appropriate source of heat; flask of hot drink, stove/brew kit, gel heat packs, etc.
Instructors should consider provision of shelter, e.g. trailer, tarp, group shelter.
Instructors should consider advising participants to eat and drink during or soon after the activity to replenish energy and hydration levels. In hot weather, instructors should consider providing drinking water.
Environment: / Contamination of water through equipment
Littering / All raft-building equipment must be uncontaminated and appropriately “clean”.
Barrels must be free of contaminants and sealed.
The web should be checked periodically for local infestation reports and action taken to reduce the chance of transferring organisms from one location to another.
The site should be inspected to ensure that there are no broken bottles or other hazardous litter and any such items should be removed from the site.
Instructors should consider asking the group to do a litter sweep after the event.
Wind: / Rafts blown out of control; / Instructors should identify wind direction and strength and consider tethering rafts to the bank, changing location or even cancelling the activity depending on the consequences.
Instructors should be particularly aware of an offshore wind as the return trip may require considerably more effort than the outgoing trip, so it will be harder to judge the capabilities and strengths of the paddlers on the way out.
Instructors should consider how and to what degree they limit the distance that the raft can be paddled/blown away from the land.
Other site users: / Injuries caused by other boats, interaction with other people and other rafts / All participants must be briefed regarding safe practise whilst on the water, i.e. appropriate use of paddles, non-contact racing, etc.
Instructors should consider changing site and/or activity if the intended site is particularly busy.
Instructors should ensure that the safety boat is positioned between the rafts and other motorised and/or larger craft, e.g. pleasure cruisers and that they are aware of the presence of the rafts.

Key Adventures www.keyadventures.co.uk 07721 906030