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Overview
Overview
SEAS Sailability provides opportunities for disabled people, their families and carers to participate in outdoor activities, in particular watersports such as sailing, powerboating, stand-up paddleboarding and canoeing. Our vision is a community where disabled people and their families and carers are supported and enabled with the skills, experience and confidence to get out on the water and have adventurous fun. Activities are delivered by our own staff and volunteers or by a partner organisation engaged by us for that purpose.
SEAS Sailability is a registered charity (1189761) and affiliated to the RYA and Paddlesport UK.
These procedures describe the process by which SEAS Sailability manage risk at it’s activities and events in order to provide a safe environment for participants, volunteers and staff fulfilling it’s intent and responsibilities as described in the health and safety policy.
We acknowledge that outdoor activities inherently involve some level of risk. Our objective is not to eliminate all risk, doing so could diminish the very elements that make these activities valuable, such as achievement, enjoyment, and the opportunity to overcome challenges. Instead, we aim to manage and reduce risks to an acceptably low level relative to the benefits gained.
This perspective aligns with the principles of risk-benefit assessment, which considers both the potential hazards and the developmental advantages of an activity. 'Nothing Ventured' by Tim Gill provides a useful introduction to this balanced approach, which by adopting, we ensure that participants can engage in meaningful and enriching experiences while maintaining their safety. Our risk management strategies are designed to support this philosophy, allowing individuals to explore, learn, and grow through well-managed outdoor activities.
Roles and Responsibilities
Roles and Responsibilities
The charity is managed by a board of trustees who have overall oversight and final responsibility for health and safety, ensuring good governance and compliance as well as financial and risk management and strategic planning.
The charity employs an operations manager who has day-to-day responsibility for the formulation and implementation of safe practice.
A duty officer will be nominated for each event with responsibility for safety.
Our volunteers assist in many roles from the registration of participants, support on the water to delivery and leadership of activity sessions. Volunteers taking specific roles, in particular Activity Leaders, will be asked to read the appropriate sections of these SOPs and confirm their understanding. All volunteers are encouraged to contribute to ensuring the SOPS are fit for purpose and safely operated regardless of their specific role.
Participants will be given safety information as appropriate. Whilst on activity, the responsibility for care is with SEAS although we expect that participants follow safety protocols and carers provide support and specialist knowledge where necessary. At other times, responsibility remains with the participant themselves or their carers as appropriate.
Further information of specific roles and responsibilities are here:
Link to volunteer code of conduct
Link to participant code of conduct
Equality, Inclusion and Safeguarding
Equality, Inclusion and Safeguarding
Link to policies:
The Risk Management Process
The purpose of this set of documents is to produce a useful, usable description of how and why we facilitate our activities in a way that is flexible, inclusive and safe so that users are able to understand and operate to their level of responsibility. It is a living document, developed from experience and all readers are encouraged to consider, reflect upon it and make suggestions. However, this version will be considered current and should form the basis of our operation.
The risk management process consists of several stages
Generic risk management
Risk Analysis – generic assessments for general hazards and specific to each activity identifying hazards and control measures
Operating Guidelines – provide an overview of key elements of an activity session incorporating control measures from risk analysis
The term ‘standard practice’ is used to describe expected practice given normal circumstances and reflects the control measures that underpin the risk analysis. It will be followed unless exceptional reasons apply. This would represent high quality practice.
‘Other considerations’ relate to items that may have a bearing on the activity such as an alternative approach or something that may relate to participant comfort.
Event planning risk management
During event planning, the operation manager (or event planner if someone else is planning the activity), will consider the event aims, likely needs of the participants, volunteer requirements, expected tidal and weather conditions, equipment requirement and availability and suitability of the venue. Additional constraints and alternative arrangements will be identified.
Event specific risk management
Prior to each event, the event duty officer (EDO), will consider the suitability of the planned programme in relation to variables such as weather, volunteers, group requirements and equipment issues. Where possible, this will be done in discussion with as many of the Activity Leaders as possible. The planned programme may then be changed to meet the risk management demands and quality demands of the day and will be recorded and communicated.
This will be recorded using the proforma available here
Person-centred approach
We use a person centred approach to risk management to enable an inclusive offer which remains f focused on the safety of the experience. Details of this are here
Dynamic risk management
These are the risk management decisions that are made by the teaching staff in relation to the changing environment and changing group dynamic as a session progresses. Effective Dynamic Risk Management is without doubt the most important element of risk management. The ability of activity leaders to make appropriate decisions is monitored through the observation and mentoring.
Where the dynamic risk management process leads to a different approach being adopted from ‘standard practice’, care should be taken to understand the risk and mitigate appropriately. The EDO should authorise and ideally this will be recorded so that regular changes to standard practice can lead to a review of the underlying risk assessment and operating procedure.
Review
There will be an annual review of the risk analysis and operating procedures conducted by the operations manager and reported to the trustees. This will involve as many of the activity leaders and volunteers as possible.
Throughout the year, relevant sections will be reviewed at trustees meetings as and when necessary in response to accidents, near misses and new information. Changes will be communicated to relevant users.
What do I need to read and understand?
What do I need to read and understand?
All volunteers
All volunteers
SOP’s Introduction and Overview (this page)
Activity specific SOPs – if you would like to help out with and support activity leaders with specific activities
Safety boat operators
Safety boat operators
As above plus:
Activity leaders
Activity leaders
As above plus:
Person centred risk management
SOP’s for the specific activity(s) that you lead
Event Duty Officer
Event Duty Officer
As above plus:
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