Gorge jumping is not specifically covered by a national governing body at the moment. Photo: Steve Kazakos CC-BY-ND-3.0
Safety rules covering outdoor education centres face a major shake-up in the wake of an inquiry into the death of a 15-year-old girl in an incident in Scotland.
Laura McDairmant, of Carlisle, died in July 2006 when she fell on to rocks during a gorge jumping session run by the Abernethy Trust’s Barcaple Outdoor Centre. Laura died in Dumfries and Galloway Royal Infirmary the day after she struck her head and neck in the fall at the Grey Mare’s Tail Burn in the Galloway Forest Park.
Young people were ‘tested’ on one rock pool before being allowed to jump from a second pool, which had rocks jutting 1.5m (5 feet) into the water.
A sheriff has recommended a full review of the safety scheme covering adventurous activities for under-18s. The present provisions were introduced under the Activity Centres (Young Persons’ Safety) Act 1995 following the 1993 Lyme Bay tragedy when four young kayakers died.
The act led to the setting up of the Adventure Activities Licensing Authority, which inspects centres offering activities for those under the age of 18. It covers four disciplines: caving, watersports, climbing and trekking.
But enforcement of safety rules falls to the Health and Safety Executive and local authorities, and Sheriff Johanna Johnston found in her determination following a fatal accident inquiry at Kirkcudbright into Laura’s death, that health and safety staff often did not have the technical knowledge satisfactorily to evaluate outdoor centre’s safety regimes.
She recommended that ‘A comprehensive review be undertaken by the Health and Safety Executive of the statutory scheme for the regulation of the provision of adventure activities to persons under the age of 18 years set up under the terms of the Activity Centres (Young Persons’ Safety) Act 1995 and the regulations of 1996 and 2004 made under that act.’
She said the review should start as soon as practicable and should address the setting up of a single authority to oversee adventure activities. She also said it should look at widening the range of activities covered. Gorge jumping, in which young people leapt into water pools from a height, was not specifically covered by the AALA scheme and there was no separate governing body for it. It was expected supervisors at present hold climbing qualifications such as Mountain Instructor Certificate, Mountain Instructor Award or British Mountain Guide.
She also said there should be a review of training and qualifications for those working on adventurous activities with young people.
In addition, the question of whether local authorities should continue to be responsible for the enforcement of the health and safety of these activities should continue.
Outdoor centres should be obliged to tell the licensing authorities of all the activities they run, she said.
She found that “The introduction of gorge jumping at the second pool at the Grey Mare’s Tail followed upon an error of judgement by a member of staff at Barcaple. That person was not suitably qualified or experienced enough to assess the risk to participants.”
The sheriff also said that the AALA and Dumfries and Galloway Council did not liaise over the inspection of Barcaple and there had been no discussion about how to organise their separate responsibilities for inspection for the same premises.
Sheriff Johnston said: “Laura lost her life in the most tragic of circumstances. It may be of some comfort to her family that the Health and Safety Executive intend to review the scheme which failed to protect Laura.
“It is to be hoped that every effort will be made to ensure that the safety of young persons engaged in adventure activities is assured by rigorous and effective regulation in the future.”
The Abernethy Trust, which runs four Christian adventure centres in Scotland, said after the sheriff’s determination: “Abernethy Trust has read with great care the determination by Sheriff Johanna Johnston which we accept as being very detailed and comprehensive.
“We recognise that there were failures in our lines of communication which contributed to this tragic accident.
“Abernethy Trust welcomes the sheriff’s findings that we acted swiftly following the accident and took steps to ensure that appropriate safety measures were put in place.
“We note that Sheriff Johnston, having regard to the steps we had already taken, does not make any recommendations regarding the management and organisation of the Abernethy Trust.
“The sheriff makes a number of recommendations about the regulation of outdoor centres. We have in the past always sought to work closely with the regulatory authorities and it is our desire to continue to do so to ensure that there cannot be a repeat of Laura’s tragic accident.”
An earlier statement by the trust said: “The Abernethy Trust deeply regrets the tragic loss of Laura McDairmant. The thoughts and prayers of everyone at Abernethy are with the McDairmant family at this time.
“The whole Abernethy team was shocked and deeply saddened by the awful news of Laura’s accident. She was very much part of the Barcaple family, having enjoyed five visits to the centre.”
Paul B
30 June 2010Yes I agree with the findings in theory. but how do you conclusively define what needs or does not need further licensing?
Anyhow if it was school teacher running this for their own pupils or the cadet forces for their own people then they do not need a licence at all for anything!
When the weather is poor on Kinder it's poor for all is it not?
Sam
07 July 2010The AALA, now renamed AALS, have their own very experienced assessors, who audit every centre holding a licence either in a one, two or three year basis. This is a very thorough process with advice and support given to get up to safety standards. It is incorrect to say that centres are only checked by Health and Safety staff who have no technical expertise.
Bob
07 July 2010The crux of the matter which, if one reads the comprehensive determination of the sheriff, is the confusion caused by the licensing remit of AALA as was, now AALS, and the enforcement responsibilities of the Health and Safety Executive and local authority staff.
It is clear from the very detailed determination by Sheriff Johnston, that Dumfries and Galloway Council staff did not feel they had the expertise to evaluate the activities at Barcaple and believed they 'were not entitled under the health and safety legislation to inspect sites outside the boundaries'. There was poor liaison between the AALA and the council. 'The AALA sent copies of the licences issued to Barcaple to the Council but did not enclose the reports of their inspections of the facility,' according to the sheriff.
The story does not say centres are only checked by health and safety staff with no technical expertise. It is clear that AALA was responsible for licensing Barcaple, but the enforcement fell - and still falls - to health and safety staff on local authorities.
It is that flaw that the sheriff's determination attempts to address.
It is also worth noting that only four statutory activities are covered by the 1995 act, and gorge jumping is not one of them.
I believe it is imperative on all of us who care about maximising the safety of young people on adventurous acitivities - and I count myself among those - that we do not resort to knee-jerk defensiveness but take note of what is, in my opinion, a very measured and sensible report by Johanna Johnston and try to ensure no recurrence of the circumstances of Laura's tragic death is allowed to happen.
Bob Smith
Editor
the names irrelevant
12 February 2011if you KNEW Laura then you knew she didn't change her mind at the last minute, she wasn't like that. she slipped end of. Please god just let her rest. I don't even know if I believe in god, but I hope theres a heaven and I hope you're there Laura, we miss you with everything we are, you are a part of us every single day