Barriers to Safety Improvements
Businesses feedback on continuous safety improvements were sought, particularly in terms of perceived barriers to their safety management practices. The cost of compliance in imple- menting safety measures was cited in both countries as a major barrier to safety. Safety man- agement efforts also had to be counterbalanced with the requirement to maintain a degree of realism in the natural environment in relation to perceived risk and excitement. Operators also highlighted the problem of recruiting staff with adequate competence and depth of expe- rience as important, and commonly reported that finding time to remain ahead of such issues was a problem due to the wide range of tasks facing SMEs. Operators from both countries pointed to participants who often overestimated their own ability, particularly with horse rid- ing, as an important barrier to safety efforts. If clients do not heed safety warnings, or horse- play occurs in individual or group situations, it can lead to an incident in which guides can lose control of the activity and injury is likely. While all operators acknowledged the dangers posed by changeable and unpredictable weather, client lack of preparation or awareness of the level of challenge posed by activities in each country was a major barrier to safety.
dealing with visitors. At a more generic level, Figure 2 introduced earlier in the chapter, pro- vides a more holistic assessment of the interactions which may contribute to adventure tourism incidents and illustrates how each of these different factors are inter-related.
The use of Codes of Practice to help operators to focus on best practice to reduce client injuries is an important development in Scotland. Codes of Practice also assist the devel- opment of the sector’s potential, through continuous improvements, so that short-term events such as client injuries do not damage the long-term objectives that adventure activ- ities are relatively safe to undertake, when accounting for the risk factors which partici- pants face to increase the thrill and excitement associated with an activity.
The studies reported in this chapter raise concerns about the lack of consensus among operators concerning the use of formal risk management practices as a mandatory process that all must endorse. It is important, therefore, that interventions targeting safety improve- ments across the sector should include improved knowledge of effective risk management practices. Reliance on alternative injury prevention activities such as client briefings to address this weakness is unsatisfactory, particularly in stressful conditions (e.g. a raft turnover), where language and stress factors will be a major barrier to communication.
Greater supervision and better client/supervisor ratios are required, particularly where English is not the first language (i.e. among overseas visitors), as are instructions, verbal and written, in the main languages spoken by an activity’s clients. Recent changes in New Zealand’s occupational health and safety legislation (Health and Safety in Employment Amendment Act, 2002), which has been extended to provide coverage for maritime and aviation environments and to reflect the situation of small businesses, will provide further impetus for the industry to place client safety as a top business priority.
It is crucial, however, that these issues be set in context: adventure tourism is a sector experiencing growth at a global level (Swarbrooke, Beard, Leckie, & Pomfret, 2003), with increasing participation, making injury risk a key element of the adventure-participating experience. It is not desirable to sanitise these experiences, through a global harmonisation of experiences already evidenced in the hospitality sector. Locations, products and visitor experiences must be different, stimulating and challenging for them to compete and add to the visitor experience. Recognising this, however, does not remove the responsibility of operators that clients be advised of likely risks associated with the activity they wish to participate in, given their personal capabilities, and of how to react in situations during their activity experience, so operators are responsible and transparent.
Future research should focus upon those areas of concern raised in this chapter.
Specifically, a better understanding of safety and risk management systems currently in place in the adventure sector and development of models of best practice in respect to safety need to be achieved for high-risk activities. As a precursor to this, basic baseline data are needed to establish the extent of the adventure tourism safety problem in other countries where the client risk must be understood and managed due to the rapid growth in visitor participation in outdoor recreation, and in particular the commercial sector of the adventure tourism industry. It seems likely that this will occur soon through the use of similar method- ologies to those used to date in the New Zealand and Scotland studies. These studies will allow benchmarking of safety management practices internationally, and the opportunity to raise awareness of the nature of the tourism injury problem on a more global platform.
References
Bentley, T.A., & Haslam, R.A. (1998). Slip, trip and fall accidents occurring during the delivery of mail. Ergonomics, 41, 859–872.
Bentley, T.A., Meyer, D., Page, S.J., & Chalmers, D. (2001a). Recreational tourism injuries among vis- itors to New Zealand: An exploratory analysis using hospital discharge data. Tourism Management, 22, 373–381.
Bentley, T. A., & Page, S.J. (2001). Scoping the extent of accidents in adventure tourism. Annals of Tourism Research, 28, 705–726.
Bentley, T.A., Page, S.J., & Laird, I. (2000). Safety in New Zealand’s adventure tourism industry:
The client accident experience of adventure tourism operators. Journal of Travel Medicine, 7, 239–245.
Bentley, T.A., Page, S.J., & Laird, I. (2001b). Accidents in the New Zealand adventure tourism industry. Safety Science, 38, 31–48.
Callander, M., & Page, S.J. (2003). Managing risk in adventure tourism operations: A review of the legal case history and potential for litigation. Tourism Management, 24, 13–24.
CM Research. (1995). White water rafting customer research: Qualitative and quantitative research findings. Report prepared for the Maritime Safety Authority White Water Rafting Safety Advisory Group. Wellington, New Zealand.
Frangialli, F. (2003). Foreword. In: D. Glaesser (Ed.), Crisis management in the tourism industry (pp. xi–xii). Oxford: Butterworth Heinemann.
Greenaway, R. (1996). Thrilling not killing: Managing the risk tourism business. Management, (May), 46–49.
Hall, C., & McArthur, S. (1991). Commercial white water rafting in Australia. Australian Journal of Leisure and Recreation, 1, 25–30.
Johnston, M. (1989). Accidents in mountain recreation: The experiences of international and domes- tic visitors in New Zealand. GeoJournal, 19, 323–328.
McLaughlan, M. (1995). White water death: Why is the Shotover New Zealand’s most lethal river?
North and South, (December), 70–81.
Millington, K., Locke, A., & Locke, T. (2001). Occasional studies: Adventure travel. Travel and Tourism Analyst, 4, 65–97.
Page, S.J. (1997). The cost of accidents in the New Zealand adventure tourism industry. Report for Tourism Policy Group, Ministry of Commerce. Wellington, New Zealand.
Page, S.J., Bentley, T.A., & Meyer, D. (2003). Evaluating the nature, scope and extent of tourist acci- dents: The New Zealand experience. In: J. Wilks, & S.J. Page (Eds), Managing tourist health and safety in the new millennium (pp. 35–52). Oxford: Pergamon.
Page, S.J., & Meyer, D. (1996). Tourist accidents: An exploratory analysis. Annals of Tourism Research, 23, 666–690.
Ryan, C. (2003). Risk acceptance in adventure tourism – paradox and content. In: J. Wilks, & S.J. Page (Eds), Managing tourist health and safety in the new millennium (pp. 55–66) Oxford: Pergamon.
Sharp, B. (2001). Strategies for improving mountain safety: Analysis of Scottish mountain incidents 1996–1999. Glasgow: University of Strathclyde.
Swarbrooke, J., Beard, C., Leckie, S., & Pomfret, G. (2003). Adventure tourism: The new frontier.
Oxford: Butterworth Heinemann.
System Three. (1998). Activity holidays in Scotland: A survey of operators’ views and opinion.
Edinburgh: System Three.
Wilks, J., & Atherton, T. (1994). Health and safety in marine tourism: A social, medical and legal appraisal. Journal of Tourism Studies, 5, 2–16.
Wilks, J., & Oldenburg, B. (1995). Tourist health: The silent factor in customer service. Australian Journal of Hospitality Management, 2, 13–23.
Wilks, J., & Page, S.J. (Eds). (2003). Managing tourist health and safety in the new millennium.
Oxford: Pergamon.
Wilks, J., & Watson, B. (1998). Road safety and international visitors in Australia: Looking beyond the tip of the iceberg. Travel Medicine International, 16(5), 194–198.
World Tourism Organization. (1996). Tourist safety. Madrid: World Tourism Organization.