Ridewise Risk Assessment Policy

RideWise Cycle Instruction Risk Assessment policy

Why is risk assessment important?

Risk assessment is important for two principal reasons:

Firstly, it ensures that the client in your care is as safe as possible, and that an easily avoidable incident does not occur. Clients come to a cycle training session to learn how to cycle in a safe manner - not to have an accident and return home injured. This is both detrimental to the principals of safe cycling and negligent on the behalf of the instructor. Remember, instructors and scheme organisers’ have a Duty of Care to everybody participating in an activity.

Secondly, risk assessment is important as it prevents a client or their lawyers suing the instructor or the scheme organiser because simple precautions were not put in place.

Is risk assessment difficult?

Do not be put off by the phrase Risk Assessment; it is not a difficult process, it is a process that we all perform automatically anyway, every cyclist sub consciously assesses the condition of the road surface and traffic levels whilst cycling. As long as a few simple steps are followed in sequence and then recorded, the risk assessment process is quite straightforward. The area to be used for the session, the bike ( & helmet) and the client(s) to be assessed.

There are two distinct types of risk assessment that are relevant to cycle training - Static risk assessment and Dynamic risk assessment. The essential differences are that Static risk assessment is a formalised recorded process that is kept for future reference i.e. When used at a specific venue (E.g. outside a school or a sports hall). Dynamic risk assessment is where an instructor continuously assesses the changing conditions where the instruction is taking place. Correct Dynamic risk assessment is the key which helps make our activities safe.

Dynamic Risk assessment: This is what is required for RideWise cycle sessions:

The instructor must demonstrate for a range of clients and locations an assessment of:

 The clients' health and ability  The clients' cycle and clothing/equipment  Risk to the public/other road users/property  The environment for training - specific venues & proposed journeys  Identified and dealt with unsafe client behaviour during training

The instructor must have:

 Delivered safe cycle training and information to clients in a manner encourages them to cycle recommend cycling to others  Not put off the clients by implying that cycling is dangerous

What you must do to meet The National Standard:

 Select a location (or locations) that are suitable for the clients and a location (i.e. quiet roads near where client lives)  Make sure that the client’s cycle is safe and roadworthy.  Encourage the client to prepare equipment in line with your organisation's procedures. (RideWise does this on the website)

In practice:

A) Be familiar with a range of areas around Nottingham

- This will cut down the need to pre-ride routes endlessly prior to delivery of sessions

B) Be ready to alter your route if the situation changes from ‘the usual’

-‘Dynamic’ implies that you do the R.A. there and then along with the client as this helps the client to understand how to begin to assess situations for them selves. They only have a limited number of sessions with RW and need to learn these skills as a part of their cycling toolkit.

C) RideWise will expect you to keep notes of any incidents that do occur using the Incident Forms supplied.

-you will not be expected to keep any records of a session that has gone to plan

Conclusion

RideWise uses highly skilled and motivated staff to deliver our cycle training and as such we expect each instructor to invest time in the basic awareness of the popular areas of cycle delivery. Having done this each instructor dramatically reduces the preparation time of Risk Assessments for each session because the background work has already been completed.