Sport is not above the law, and therefore neither are climbers and hill walkers. The law is also not static, but changes to reflect society. Society has become increasingly risk averse and as society re-evaluates acceptable risk it seems people increasingly assume that somebody is to blame when an accident occurs. The law is about fault, about the consequences of actions (this is called the chain of causation) and if one's actions have led to actual damage to another it is possible that they are at fault and then they may be liable. For a person to be liable, they have got to breach a duty of care that they owe to the injured person, and the damage must result from that breach of duty of care. (The British Mountaineering Council, 2003b.) As a hill walker one owes a duty of care to others who are so closely and directly affected by their actions. When hill walking with a group, one has a duty of care toward themselves, the other members in the group and to anybody else who is walking in the same location.
It is crucial therefore to understand what one's standard of care toward others will be. In the context of a group, (two or more walkers,) the standard of care owed to others will be higher for the more experienced member. (The British Mountaineering Council, 2003b.) The practical result of this is fairly obvious, whereas one would not routinely check an experienced partner's equipment for example; one would be expected to do so for a novice. A novice must also be made fully aware of the relevant risks involved. One of the first defences for this is the BMC participation statement:
The BMC recognises that climbing 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 and involvement.
(The British Mountaineering Council 2004, p6.)
Following on from this is the principle of 'volenti non fit injuria' literally a willing man cannot be injured. A person willingly taking part in a known high risk activity takes responsibility for himself.
It is interesting to note that although hill walkers have a moral responsibility to assist other people in difficulties, they have no legal obligation. (Long, 2003.) Leaders should always give priority to the safety of their charges and make this their primary consideration when helping others.
To protect the freedom to enjoy climbing and mountaineering activities and to continue to introduce people to the sport one must understand the law of negligence and liability and must also constantly remind all participants about the hazards and risks, and actively promote the culture of personal responsibility and self-reliance. (The British Mountaineering Council, 2003b.)
Legal requirements aside, a leader should follow the guidelines for good practice laid out by both the British Mountaineering Council (BMC), and the Mountain Leader Training Board (MLTB). These guidelines are there to assist leaders in maintaining a high level of safety awareness in order to protect not only the members in their charge, but also the leaders themselves. (Sports Coach UK, 2002.) Climbing and other mountaineering activities are all at risk adventure sports and as such have an inherent level of danger. (The British Mountaineering Council, 2003a.) All guidelines and requirements already set in place have been done so in order to lessen the risk to individuals of serious injury or even death.
The paradox is that people climb and participate in mountaineering activities often because of the danger factor involved. (Cronin, 1991.) To eliminate all risk would go against the underlying reason why people want to participate. The responsibility of the leader therefore is to ensure that members of a group experience the thrill of this adventure sport, that they are challenged, motivated and most of all that they enjoy it, but that they do so as safely as is reasonably possible, without taking any unnecessary risks. (Langmuir, 2003.)
Working with novice or intermediate groups often means working with young people, whether as a professional or as a volunteer. It is important in such a situation to promote a safe and comfortable environment. (The British Mountaineering Council, 2003e.) The BMC provides comprehensive guides to assist one in these matters, such as 'Promoting Good Practice for Coaching Climbing' and a detailed 'Child Protection Policy'. Other informative sources include the Child Protection in Sport Unit (CPSU) who can provide advice for professionals, and Sports Coach UK who provide 'The Coaches Charter'.
All these organisations emphasise a few core principles when working with children and young people to safeguard their welfare. Good practice is essentially common sense; however, it is important to remember that in such a situation one is acting in 'Loco Parentis' and must act as a reasonable parent or guardian would. (The British Mountaineering Council, 2003e.) The well-being and safety of the participant must be placed about the development of performance. It is important therefore to remember that an effective leader considers the needs of the individual members in the group, rather than their own needs or wants. Not only this, but a leader should focus attention on bettering the person, rather than merely achieving the task. (Martens, 2004.)
One should treat all young people with respect and develop an appropriate working relationship based on mutual trust. (Sport Coach UK, 2003.) Always work in an open environment and avoid one to one situations and as far as is practical, physical contact should be avoided. If this does occur it is important that the child consents and that it is done in an open way. Ensure that there is parental consent for both the participation in the activity by the young person and, if the need arises, that all necessary medical help can be administered. (The British Mountaineering Council, 2003e.)
According to the Health and Safety Executive, (cited in The British Mountaineering Council, 2003b,) there are five steps to risk assessment: Step 1 Look for hazards; Step 2 Decide who might be harmed and how; Step 3 Evaluate the risks and decide whether the existing precautions are adequate or whether more should be done; Step 4 Record your findings; Step 5 Review your assessment and revise if necessary.
A hazard could be anything that might cause harm, for example rock fall or bad weather. Risk is the chance that somebody will be harmed by the hazard, for example that the rock fall will hit somebody or that the bad weather will cause hypothermia. For a day out with friends or peers a mental assessment might suffice whereas if running an Outdoor Centre a formal written assessment would be required. (The British Mountaineering Council, 2003b.) In either situation, the risk assessment is a dynamic process whereby risks are continually assessed and decisions made to reduce these risks as much as is reasonably possible.
In a professional situation, such as running an Outdoor Centre, risk assessment is just one of many requirements asked for and inspected by the Adventure Activities Licensing Authority (AALA). AALA is an independent watchdog on the delivery of outdoor adventure activities for young people. It is a cross-departmental public authority, funded by the Department for Education and Skills, and operating under the written guidance of the Health and Safety Commission. The licensing scheme provides an assurance to the public about the safety of those activity providers who have been granted a license. (Adventure Activities Licensing Authority, 2002.)
A group leader has the ever present practical problem of maintaining the right balance between apparent danger and safety. As such one needs to control safety factors so as to create a discreet background framework of good practice working to ensure feelings of excitement, interest and curiosity, exploration, adventure, achievement and a general enjoyment of mountaineering activities. (Langmuir, 2003.)
An important element that helps one weigh up all factors and come up with the best answer, for a particular party in a specific situation, is experience. Therefore the quality of a leader's own personal experience is also going to be a crucial factor. A leader must be able to distinguish between apparent and real danger and a leader must know their own strengths and weaknesses so as to be able to recognise and avoid situations. (Langmuir, 2003.)
In order to ensure the safer enjoyment and understanding of the hills by young people the Mountain Leader Training Scheme provides training and assessment in the technical skills required by those wishing to lead groups of young people in the mountains and moorlands of the British Isles. There is a Summer Award and a Winter Award. The mountain leader training scheme provides the opportunity to gain minimum technical competence for leading parties in the hills and seeks to integrate training, experience, and assessment. It does not provide a professional qualification. (Langmuir, 1984.) The scheme is regularly update and reviewed as the process of best practice is developed. The awards are recognised by the government, AALA, and other statutory and voluntary organisations. (Long, 2003.)
There are further qualifications leading on from the Summer and Winter Mountain Leader Awards, these are the Mountaineering Instructor Award (MIA) and the Mountain Instructors Certificate (MIC). These awards cover further technical aspects of mountaineering including all aspects of rock climbing, and for the MIC, includes snow and ice climbing. (The British Mountaineering Council, 2004.) The Association of Mountaineering Instructors (AMI) is the representative body of professionally qualified mountaineering instructors in the British Isles.
There is also the Walking Group Leader Award that one can do prior to doing the Summer and Winter Leader Awards. This covers most of the basic technical skills required to lead groups walking in the British summer time, but is not as comprehensive as the Mountain Leader Awards.
A leader needs to be respected for their technical skills, their physical fitness and their experience and knowledge. These things aside, one must also be like however, for their people skills, their interest in people as individuals, their readiness to notice tone of voice and body language, and to act tactfully and discreetly on what is noticed. (The British Mountaineering Council, 2003c.) Everyone has a preferred style of leadership somewhere along a continuum running from Authoritarian at one end to Democratic at the other. (Martens, 2004.) As a leader, it is vital to remain flexible. It is important to be able to vary one's style of leadership, not only to suite the situation, but also to suit the needs of individuals. People need to be treated and communicated with as individuals as well as members of a group. Martens, 2004.)
Being a good leader encourages effective, enjoyable and safe climbing for groups. A responsible leader takes into consideration the age and ability of the group and adapts their leadership style to fit the requirements of the individuals in that group. Full consideration of the necessary legal requirements is taken into account and one shows a duty of care to all those participating in mountaineering activities with and around them. Special consideration is taken when working with young people to ensure a comfortable and safe environment, and one would hole the necessary qualification required. In any situation an ongoing risk assessment is performed in order to reduce the likelihood of an accident occurring. Mountaineering activities are inherent high-risk activities and it is the role of the person leading the group to minimise this risk as much as is reasonably possible, in order to ensure the participants experience the thrill of the activity.
References
Adventure Activities Licensing Authority (AALA). (2002). The Licensing Authority. . Internet source produced by Adventure Activities Licensing Authority. [Electronically accessed 24th November 2005.]
Cronin, C. (1991). ‘Sensation seeking among mountain climbers’. Personality and Individual Differences. 12.6.p653-654.
Langmuir, E. (2003). Mountaincraft and leadership. 3rd Edition. The Scottish Sports Council.
Long, S. (2003). Hillwalking: The Official Handbook of the Mountain Leader and Walking Group Leader Schemes. Nottingham: Mountain Leader Training UK.
Martens, R. (2004). Successful Coaching. 3rd Edition. Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics.
Sports Coach UK. (2002). Factsheet 1 Child Protection Information. . Internet source produced by Sports Coach UK. [Electronically accessed 24th November 2005.]
Sports Coach UK. (2003). Code of Conduct for Sports Coaches: Rights, Relationships, Responsibilities. Sports Coach UK Leaflet. Sports Coach UK.
The British Mountaineering Council (BMC). (2003). ‘Licence to climb. Climbing indoors: experience vs qualifications.’ BMC Summit. 23.p40-41. The British Mountaineering Council.
The British Mountaineering Council (BMC). (2003). ‘Risk, freedom and the law’. BMC Summit. 23.p14-16. The British Mountaineering Council.
The British Mountaineering Council (BMC). (2003). ‘Skills of leadership’. BMC Summit. 25.p24-25. The British Mountaineering Council.
The British Mountaineering Council (BMC). (2003). Child Protection Policy and Guidelines. BMC Pamphlet. The British Mountaineering Council.
The British Mountaineering Council (BMC). (2003). Promoting Good Practice for Coaches in Climbing. BMC Guidelines. The British Mountaineering Council.
The British Mountaineering Council (BMC). (2004). Member Handbook 2004. The British Mountaineering Council.