Latest TIA Blog

	Strengthening NZ’s world leading adventure tourism sector
	By GEOFF ENSOR - 27 August 2010

New Zealand’s world leading adventure tourism sector will only get stronger with the introduction of new measures to improve safety practices.

The government’s report into the Review of Risk Management and Safety in the Adventure and Outdoor Commercial Sectors in New Zealand 2009/10, released on 24 August, contains a series of recommendations that will impact on many TIA members.

We fully back the recommendations, which were drawn up after extensive consultation with the adventure and outdoor sector. TIA actively participated in the six-month review, talking with many of our adventure and outdoor members to get their input and ensure their views were represented around the table.

We are delighted the Minister of Labour Kate Wilkinson has picked up the review recommendations as a package. The changes around safety and risk management practices will position the industry very well for the future.

Operator responsibility

We believe in operators accepting primary responsibility for visitor safety – minute by minute, hour by hour, month by month. However, we also want operators to be working within a strong, consistent national framework – a framework that is weighted towards guidance and support.

From day one of the review last October, we worked hard to reinforce that “every operator wants to avoid incidents and accidents.”  This approach helped ensure recommendations were developed that focused primarily on operator needs, rather than the development of highly prescriptive regulations supported by punitive action.

Positively, at the start of the review process, the Labour Minister said she wanted to ensure our adventure tourism sector retained the dynamism which sets it apart from the rest of the world, while also ensuring the best possible safety measures are in place.

From the industry submissions received during the consultation phase, a set of safety principles was developed that were regarded as relevant and good practice across all activity groupings. While the review showed the sector to be addressing safety management at many levels, it also highlighted activities that carried heightened risk, but appeared poorly supported on matters of safety.

Key recommendations

The 21 recommendations contained in the government’s report will effectively address areas of concern highlighted in the review, but we are also aware that ‘getting the detail right’ will be critical if the recommendations are to work well in practice.  

The following five recommendations (in italics) are those TIA considers integral to the new safety system:

Registration scheme

Introduce a registration scheme for the adventure and outdoor commercial sectors with a requirement for up-front and ongoing external safety audits of operators’ safety management provisions (to a level commensurate with the risk) and an obligation on operators to keep their registration up-to-date.

Operators who have activity-specific regulation and/or have chosen to be externally reviewed by a third party, e.g. Qualmark or OutdoorsMark, should experience little or no change, other than better quality guidance and support. There will be a modest registration fee for the unregulated.

For operators that carry heightened risk and have neither specific regulation nor any form of credible external assessment, then the next phase of the review is likely to assess this group and decide which will qualify for compulsory start-up and on-going audits at a frequency and depth commensurate with the risks.

A real strength of the registration scheme is that it will enable targeted communication with operators who may have commenced their activity in isolation and continue to operate without support. In addition, it recognises existing auditing bodies and largely keeps the responsibility for safety at the coal face.

New, currently unthought-of activities will need to be registered. By doing so they will receive guidance and support to help them confidently and safely integrate into the wider adventure sector. 

Industry-led entity

Establish an industry-led entity to strengthen the safety management framework for the sectors.

While the detail has yet to be worked through, the concept of a single group that maintains a bird's-eye view of the sector and coordinates appropriate safety initiatives has considerable merit. TIA will be promoting the entity to be established within an existing organisation, as opposed to creating another stand-alone body.

Practice guide

Development of a practice guide for the sector.

The review identified operators who are guided primarily by the Health and Safety in Employment Act, yet find they lack clear information and direction on how to meet their safety obligations. It is anticipated that guidance material may describe how to develop and implement a tailored Safety Management System with topics that include the development of standard operating procedures, safety reporting systems and crisis plans. TIA has offered to facilitate this piece of work and believes it will have value across the entire sector, particularly for those at start-up.

Auditing schemes

Evaluation of the voluntary safety auditing schemes for adventure and outdoor commercial sector operations to ensure they are fit for purpose. 

Given the implication of the registration scheme, we support the evaluation of schemes to ensure they provide operators and the wider industry with tangible value. Auditing schemes must be fit for purpose and weighted towards providing operators with advice and direction.

Investigate the development of a register of government-accredited adventure tourism-related safety auditing schemes.

TIA believes government-accredited auditing schemes may be required to ensure auditing quality is maintained and the credibility of the proposed regime maintained.  

What's next...

The Department of Labour will report back to Kate Wilkinson by 30 November with detailed proposals on the design of the new system.

TIA is committed to working with the Department, other key organisations and most importantly our members to ensure the recommendations result in workable, positive outcomes for the adventure and outdoor sector. We are keen to start work quickly on the recommendations and intend being fully involved with their implementation.