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Free Pharos Response Training for AIM Members – Registration required

The team at Pharos Response is delivering some additional free hour-long training sessions open to AIM Members.  Please find below training topics and links for you to register.

Please note that you will need a Zoom account to register so if ‘your email is not authorised’, this is because you do not have a Zoom account. Simply set one up in 2 minutes for free using the Zoom ‘sign up for free’ link at the top of the registration page. You will only need to do this once.

How best to manage social media in a critical incident
February 26th 1600
What to include in a first aid kit? Insights from a doctor with significant adventure & travel experience
March 21st 1600
What lessons can we learn from critical incident case studies in the adventure / travel sector?
April 16th 1600
To register, please visit this link and scroll right down to the bottom for the Zoom links.

https://pharos-response.co.uk/sectors/aimmembers/

Any problems or questions with registration, please contact the Pharos team at [email protected].

AIM Newsletter 2024

We are excited to release the copy of our latest On Target Newsletter 2024 with contributions from AIM Members

UKCA Canyoning guidance gives detail of the national training body for the sport and how you can get involved in a training programme for canyoning.

Legal update is provided by our colleagues at HCR Law on a case hitting the headlines for a failure to risk assess.

Details of our online member sessions which started in January and will be held each month virtually.

Pharos Response provide a year review for critical incidents, trends and lessons and details of the free insights sessions that Pharos are providing for AIM Members.

Free Pharos Response Training for AIM Members – Registration required

The team at Pharos Response is delivering some additional free hour-long training sessions open to AIM Members.  Please find below training topics and links for you to register this side of Christmas, including a repeat of the recent media training for those of you who missed it.

Please note that you will need a Zoom account to register so if ‘your email is not authorised’, this is because you do not have a Zoom account. Simply set one up in 2 minutes for free using the Zoom ‘sign up for free’ link at the top of the registration page. You will only need to do this once.

Please limit registration to three people per organisation to allow space for more organisations.

 

Keeping people safe onsite: your non-activity H&S duties and how to be compliant

Monday 25th September 1600-1700

For all adventure activity organisations.

Register now: https://us06web.zoom.us/webinar/register/7016892368682/WN_EEYUi4vdSWOZxzOus4ic_w

 

How to meet a school’s needs of a trip provider and more easily gain trip approval

Monday 16th October 1600-1700

For all adventure and travel organisations serving schools.

Register now: https://us06web.zoom.us/webinar/register/5016907272623/WN_gJZ9en83SyqpAmmr8pAgvg

 

Critical incident plan: how to structure yours

Monday 20th November 1600-1700

For all adventure and travel organisations.

Register now: https://us06web.zoom.us/webinar/register/1016907273128/WN_il4aC4HMQxifxDlH_p9WIA

 

(Repeat session) Managing the media during a crisis: how to help protect your hard-won reputation.

Monday 11th December 1600-1700

For all adventure and travel organisations.

Register now: https://us06web.zoom.us/webinar/register/5216883172841/WN_d-so1jP9TYGzuED9Za-6AQ

 

As a reminder for those of you who are not aware of Pharos Response, they are risk & reputation management specialists and provide AIM Members with significant discounts on their 24/7 incident response service.  For details or to subscribe to this service, click here https://pharos-response.co.uk/sectors/aimmembers/

Any problems or questions with registration, please contact the Pharos team at [email protected].

On Target Newsletter 2019

AIM-Newsletter-Autumn2019-WEB-1

It has been another  successful year for AIM and we are pleased to take this opportunity to share with you our latest news from our Chairman, Andrew Gardiner, as well as a selection of industry updates, lessons learned and contributions from industry insiders such as Martin Smith of Adventure UK and a profile of our member Rockcity.

Clyde & Co discuss the changes in place regarding health and safety fines in the activities industry.  How prepared you are in responding to a critical incident with our colleagues at Pharos Response and AIM’s position on the defensibility of claims,  all subjects we know members worry about.

Wellbeing in the workplace is covered by MS Amlin who look at staff turnover, sickness absence, resilience and the impact on claims. Plus LOTC explains how the LOtc Quality Badge is helping more children access great educational experiences.

Plus all the usual updates on Conferences and Member Events and news from the AIM team.

 

 

AIM & Pharos – Be Prepared

Seven habits for highly effective incident management

By Julian Penney and Chris Gallant of Pharos Response

You may have come across the management book, Seven Habits of Highly Effective People; we believe ‘seven’ rules can also apply to incident management. Like anything, the more planning you do, the more you’ll be prepared for an incident. More importantly, as a result of being prepared, the incident is likely to have a lesser impact on your organisation and the people involved.

How prepared are you?

How would you respond to the letter from a solicitor threatening legal action following an injury sustained by a customer in your care; a visit from the Police to break the news that a member of your staff has been arrested for suspected child abuse; or many other comparable situations?

Here’s our seven ‘habits’ for highly effective incident management:

1. Planning

In the outdoor and adventure sector, we tend to be very good at handling incidents ‘in the field’. Typically, we are less prepared for how to prevent these incidents from getting worse or how to handle a more serious incident. Being prepared means identifying potential crises and writing a short plan of considerations. This isn’t a lengthy prose but a punchy list of actions, guides and checklists: what to do, who to do what and who to notify. Of the AIM Members subscribed to Pharos’ service to date, 53% either didn’t have a plan or ‘weren’t sure’ if they did when they signed up.

2. Speed

There is limited time after incidents when you can take control, showing people involved you’re acting responsibly and working towards a solution. Your plan should outline who will be doing what and the faster they make a start, the better for organisational recovery, rather like administering first aid. Conversely, if you have to think through all the details at the time, you’re in danger of sinking. The press will already be calling before you’ve had chance. A plan helps improve your ability to respond, and your speed of response.

3. People

You’ll be making fast decisions as there is usually a lot to do. These decisions are vital in doing the right thing by those involved and also portraying your organisation as being reputable and responsible. Place ‘people’ at the heart of your incident response, which means making management decisions based on wanting the best possible care for the injured, the support of other group members and consideration of relatives. If there is the smallest sign that you’re putting profit before people, things swiftly turn sour. Relatives turn to the press, social media or lawyers in frustration, escalating your incident. Sometimes this could have been avoided by following the first three steps alone.

4. Take responsibility

Even if you believe the cause of an incident to be the fault of a sub-contractor or freelancer, it’s important to take organisational responsibility for getting to the bottom of what happened and providing the necessary support to those affected. Appearing to be passing the buck or seeking blame breeds negative feelings. Much of effective incident management is about ‘just doing the right thing’. After any incident, your organisation falls under the spotlight, perhaps by one family or by the world’s media depending on the scale. How you’re seen to perform under the spotlight affects how people will judge and treat you.

5. Remain visible

In the aftermath of an incident, you’ll be busier than you’d like but it is crucially important that you remain visible and available to those affected. It isn’t just the initial speed of response that is important but ongoing speed. If you suddenly disappear people will ask what’s happened, what’s to hide? Disappearing may be due to phone, email or web systems failing under the pressure, or of course you simply need a break. Either way, this can cost you dearly: a journalist printing “unavailable for comment” or an unanswered question can breed suspicion, concern and eventually claims.

6. Ethical and honest

You don’t need to release all information as soon as you have it but you do need to be responsible with the information you do hold. Stalling or worse, lying, will only bite you later. Make ethical and honest management decisions.

7. Remember the bigger picture

Business continuity should be a part of your plan with people nominated to care for the day-to-day running aside from the incident. Once the eye of the storm has passed, you’ll need to turn some attention to your organisation’s ongoing operations and performance. Review the previous six steps when considering your own organisation, and the impact the incident may have had on it and your staff.

Assistance for AIM Members

Whether you’re a large or small organisation, you will have your own challenges and your own reasons for not being as prepared as you’d like to be; usually a combination of time, money and expertise. Pharos can provide the expertise to help you plan, prepare and train for effective incident management while also being available to you 24/7 to help handle any incident. AIM members benefit from a discounted annual subscription of £125, when usually the fee would be from £995.

Often people assume Pharos is only there to help through the major incidents, but this is not true. We have recently assisted two AIM Members following climbing-related falls where, fortunately, the injuries were minor. However, both cases had the potential to become more serious than the injuries alone would suggest, but through careful stakeholder communications we were able to advise how to defuse the situation, helping to prevent these situations escalating into claims.

For more information visit: www.pharos-response.co.uk

 

 

From Sparks To Inferno

In the same way that some of the most serious fires and explosions begin life as a mere spark if left unchecked, the same can be true with major incidents and organisational crises, write Julian Penney and Chris Gallant of Pharos Response.

Seemingly minor incidents or complicated customer complaints can develop into serious situations if they are not dealt with swiftly by a senior member of staff. Such situations can be highly costly not just financially but in terms of personal welfare, reputation or brand damage, and management time involved in dealing with the response.

All this points to the fact that quick and decisive action is needed to deal with low-level incidents or complaints to defuse the situation and extinguish the flames. For activity providers, health and safety is a major part of what they do day-in, day-out. This is why they are good at handling incidents on the ground. However, some may be less strong at dealing with the aftermath and handling the sensitive communications with parents and schools who may go to the press, vent their frustrations on social media or pursue a legal claim if they feel their situation is not being well handled. So what tools are available to activity providers to help you respond quickly? Fortunately, there is a whole range of ‘fire extinguishers’ available and the good news is that most are straightforward and easy to implement internally.

1. Incident reporting systems.

It is important that those who are ‘in the field’ or ‘on the ground’ have a simple and effective way of informing management when a potentially complex incident has occurred or when a complaint is likely. Activity instructors may not always make a suitable assessment of the organisational impact of a situation so it is important that information is escalated quickly to someone who can do so. Instructors and leaders should be confident that they will have management support and, importantly, that they are available, including out of hours.

2. Complaints and incident handling procedures.

Most activity providers will have some form of emergency plan and it is important that this is communicated to all those involved in the process. Plans are best when they are kept simple and use checklists and flowcharts rather than prescriptive paragraphs of text and bullet points. These should be kept up-to-date and cover the full range of scenarios and incident severity – not just be reserved for a crisis event which is unlikely to happen.

3. Communication plans.

Whilst most activity providers have a reasonable incident plan, many are weaker when it comes to external communications. Such a plan should be written to identify the stakeholders specific to your own organisation and set out who will communicate with them and how. Clearly the media is a major concern to most, but social media, customers, families and staff are equally important.

4. Training.

Fire & Rescue Services frequently train their staff and so too should activity providers give incident handling training to their own staff. Such training can be very simple, involving scenario discussions and ‘tool box talks’, or it can involve realistic role play. Lessons learned from training exercises and simulations are invaluable when it comes to dealing with real situations and are usually more useful than any written procedure you will see! We often run scenario-based incident training for clients to test their response in a very realistic but safe environment, identifying areas for improvement.

5. Ethos and culture.

Your organisation no doubt values itself for being open and honest and doing the right thing by its customers, and this is likely to help prevent complaints and incidents from escalating into crises. Fear of litigation may prompt a defensive tone but this is more likely to make a situation worse. Similarly, delaying replies to customers or the failure by frontline staff to answer their phones will certainly add fuel to the fire.

6. Professional assistance.

Even with the best laid plans a little extra help can go a long way, as one AIM Member discovered after a customer’s tragic death from natural causes whilst at their premisies. AIM’s tailored arrangement with Pharos ensured that the Member had access to professional advice exactly when it was needed. A number of AIM Members have benefitted from Pharos’ services over the past year for “minor” situations which had the potential to conflagrate, such as minor climbing falls, a child accessing dangerous chemicals, or an allergic reaction to food provided on the premises.

So in summary our advice is simple: to help prevent the sparks of an incident from developing into an inferno, we advise activity providers to assess what tools they have at their disposal and prepare in advance for a speedy and effective response.