ARMY MOUNTAINEERING ASSOCIATION

Safety Management Plan

Version 1.1 dated 11 Oct 2014

“Climb if you will, but remember that courage and strength are nought without prudence, and that a momentary negligence may destroy the happiness of a lifetime. Do nothing in haste; look well to each step; and from the beginning think what may be the end.”

Edward Whymper

AIM

  1. This plan provides direction and guidance on how safety should be managed for all Army Mountaineering Association (AMA) activities. It provides clear guidance on the governance of safety matters within the AMA and delegates clear responsibility, authority and accountability for the conduct of all activity where there is potential Risk to Life (RtL). Equally important, this plan gives clear guidance on safe practice which, together with the governance framework, combine to provide an environment in which the RtL in all AMA activity is reduced to “As Low as Reasonably Practicable” (ALARP).
  1. This plan is written to be complimentary to existing direction for the conduct of mountaineering, both within Joint Service Adventurous Training (JSAT) scheme, and when conducted as sport.

SITUATION

  1. As conducting any mountaineering activity is inherently hazardous the AMA follows the guidance of the UK National Governing Body (UK NGB) for mountaineering, the British Mountaineering Council (BMC). All AMA members are required to be aware of the BMC’s participations statement:‘The BMC recognises that climbing, hill walking and mountaineering are activities with a danger of personal injury or death. Participants in these activities should be aware of and accept these risks and be responsible for their own actions’.The AMA also recognizes the BMC as the most appropriate organisation to define current safe practice for mountaineering activity. In addition to the guidance of the BMC, the activity of the AMA is governed by several Ministry of Defence documents, specifically: JSP 375 Vol 2 - Leaflet 11’Safety in Military Training and Exercises’, JSP 419 ‘Joint Service Adventurous Training Scheme’; AGAI Vol 1 - Chapter 11 and Defence Information Notice 10-009 dated Feb 2010 ‘Mountaineering as Sport’.

RESPONSIBILITY, AUTHORITY and ACCOUNTABILITY

  1. Overall responsibility for ensuring that the RtL in all AMA activity is ALARP lies with the Chairman of the AMA who is accountable to the AMA President. AMA activity is divided into three distinct areas: General Mountaineering, Sport Climbing and Non-Mountaineering with responsibility for managing any RtL in these areas being clearly delegated by Chairman AMA as follows:
  1. General Mountaineering[1]: Delegated to Vice Chairman Mountaineering.
  1. Sport Climbing[2]: Delegated to Vice Chairman Sport Climbing.
  1. Non Mountaineering[3]: Delegated to AMA General Secretary
  1. The incumbent of each of these appointments is accountable to Chairman for ensuring that the RtL in all AMA activity is reduced to ALARP. The incumbent of each appointment is authorised to further sub-delegate their responsibilities to other AMA members in order to ensure that responsibility for managing RtL on AMA activities is held at an appropriate level. Such delegations should ensure that those empowered have a close enough relationship with the activity being conducted to manage it correctly and with minimum RtL.

ACTIVITY CONSTRUCT

  1. The AMA conducts 8 different categories of activity and its future intent is set out in an annual plan which identifies proposed activity for the following 5 years. The 8 categories of activity are shown in Table 1 below:

Table 1. The Army Mountaineers’ activity construct.[4]

GOVERNANCE OF AMA ACTIVITIES

  1. AMA activities are conducted under different remits as described in Table 1, above. Groups of activity are governed in differing manners, as follows:
  1. Category 1-5. Routinely activities in categories 1-5 are governed by JSP 419 and AGAI Vol 1, Chapter 11 and are subject to external scrutiny, via the Chain of Command. When delivered by the AMA they will always be conducted as Adventurous Training.
  1. Category 6 and 7. Activity in categories 6 and 7 is conducted under the authority of the Army Sports Control Board (ASCB), Defence Information Notice 10-009 dated Feb 2010 ‘Mountaineering as Sport’ and frago 01 to OpO 14/002 - The Army’s Approach to ‘Risk to Life’ – Sport and Adventurous Training[5], however the AMA also accepts guidance on safe practice from the BMC, as the UK NGB, especially where climbing is occurring on a peer group basis[6]. Routinely activity in these 2 categories will be conducted as Sport and activity in category 6 will only ever be conducted in the UK. Detailed guidance to meet leaders can be found at Enclosure 1. Activity in these categories may be conducted alongside, or sometimes in participation with, civilian climbers. Such civilians have no ‘On Duty’ status and beyond the normal legal ‘duty of care’ the MoD bears no responsibility for these individuals or their actions.
  1. Category 8. Activity in Category 8 is managed solely under the guidelines the BMC for safe practice, in the manner of a civilian Mountaineering club. Such activity carries no liability for the MoD. Members organising activity in this category should also follow the AMA Guidance to Meet Leaders at Enclosure 1.
  1. Further guidance on safe practice can be found in the BMC’s ‘Risk, Responsibility, Duty of Care and Liability – Club Guidelines’ document which is available on their website:

P J EDWARDS

Colonel

Chairman – Army Mountaineering Association

Enclosures:

1.AMA Guidance to Meet Leaders

1

[1] Hill Walking, Summer and Winter Mountaineering (including ski touring and mountaineering), Rock and Ice Climbing.

[2] All competitive climbing activity including indoor climbing, ice climbing and bouldering competitions as well as any training activity required to prepare teams for these events.

[3] Event with no mountaineering content such as meetings, dinners and seminars.

[4] Table abbreviations: ATG(A) – Adventurous Training Group (Army), ATSYS – AT System, ASCB – Army Sports Control Board, OBS – Online Booking System (run by ATG(A))

[5] This document defines the ‘Duty Holding’ roles for Sport and Adventurous Training within the Army.

[6] The BMC defines Peer Groups as ‘Individuals of comparable experience, climbing or walking together, where there is no discernable leader’ and notes that ‘Each individual is capable of making their own decisions and each will owe the other an equal duty of care, but nothing more’.