Adventure Activities Overseas
Managing the Risk With the
Amended BS 8848

Can your business afford a loss of reputation as the result of an incident?

The newly amended BS 8848 provides a guide to good practice for the organization of visits, fieldwork, expeditions and adventure holidays outside the UK.

This conference will provide a one-day introduction to this amended British Standard to help you understand how BS 8848 can be applied to your organization and manage the risk of your ventures.

Benefits of attending include:

• A complimentary copy of the amended BS 8848

• Learn how to implement BS 8848 to help you manage the risk of your overseas activities
• Information on self-declaration and third party independent assessment
• Discover the links between BS 8848, legislation and insurance 
• Have your say on the effects of the standard on your activities in discussion sessions
• Networking opportunities, including a complimentary drinks reception.

The standard is particularly relevant to commercial tour operators, travel providers and insurers. The Department for Children, Schools and Families has recently indicated that schools leading their own visits overseas may wish to consider BS 8848.

In partnership with

Supported by

Chair’s introduction  

Peter Eisenegger
Consumer Representative, BSI Consumer and Public Interest Unit

About BS 8848

Why is BS 8848 necessary?

• The life-changing importance of overseas ventures of this sort for young people
• Our current 'culture of fear' and how we can confront and reverse it
• The counter-productivity of a statutory approach
• The importance of increased provision

Marcus Bailie
Head of Inspection, Adventure Activities Licensing Service 

BS 8848 – An introduction to content

• Establishing the chain of responsibility
• Focus on safety management processes
  - Staff selection
  - Risk assessment
  - Training
  - Incident & emergency planning
• Attention to “grey areas”
  - Downtime – personal time
  - Stakeholders
  - Lone workers
  - Sub-contractors

Shane Winser
Head of Expeditions and Fieldwork, Royal Geographical Society with IBG

Self declaration and third party independent assessment - Advantages and procedures

• Understanding conformity; what it is and the differences between self declaration, other party, certification
• Undertaking self declaration; what is involved and how to demonstrate self declaration
• Seeking conformity through and independent third party; an approach as demonstrated by the YET model
• Provider conformity; a way of assessing that a corporate entity will conform to BS 8848 (the YET scheme)

Graham Derrick
Council Member, Young Explorers’ Trust

BS 8848 – The lawyer’s and insurer’s perspective 

• Do you have to use BS 8848?
• How BS 8848 reflects on perceptions of good practice
• Do you need to adhere to the standard and consequences of not doing so
• Insurance perspective
• Reducing insurer’s risk

Matthew Davies
Partner, Hill Dickinson LLP

Gary Armstrong
Senior Underwriter, Vantage Insurance Services

Discussion Session

The amended BS 8848 and you

• Have your say on opportunities and challenges created by the standard
• Your opportunity to discuss any issues with the authors of the standard

Case studies: How BS 8848 has been implemented by different organizations

Commercial expedition company – World Challenge

• World Challenge - background
• Challenges of implementation
• Internal procedural changes
• Effects on the ground
• Other benefits
• Commercial impact

Nick Everard
Global Operations Director, World Challenge

Risk assessing fieldwork within a research institution

• Identifying need for basic field skills
• Planning concerns relating to employee and student projects
• Problems arising abroad
• Dealing with insurance and insurers

Andrew Böber
Occupational Safety and Health Manager, Zoological Society of London (ZSL)

Theory into practice, using BS 8848 for educational visits and school expedition safety auditing

• Early experiences and findings of adopting BS 8848 within a school environment
• Utilising and maximising 8848 for school/student/leader expedition management

Dave Watkinson
Director of Patterdale Hall, Bolton School’s Outdoor Education Centre 

Implementing BS8848 for charity challenges

• Across the Divide background and BS 8848 relevance
• Implementation challenges within a small company
• Getting staff to buy in to the concept
• Getting clients to understand the importance of best practice vs price
• Commercial Impact

Steve Clark
Operations and Development Director, Across the Divide

All those responsible for visits, fieldwork, expeditions and adventure holidays outside the UK, including:

• Commercial, research, educational and other expedition providers
• Travel and tour organizations, including gap year experiences
• LEA advisors, education visit co-coordinators, independent schools, higher and further education providers
• Charity challenges and sponsoring organizations
• Insurers.

Workshop Programme
18 March 2009

The role of third party providers in BS 8848

• The selection of third party providers
• Third party conformance with venture requirements
• Additional requirements
• Environmental impact

Peter Harvey
Managing Director, Sentinel Consulting

BSI’s conference workshops provide detailed learning, guidance and practical advice through small groups and one to one interaction with highly skilled and knowledgeable tutors. The workshops can provide a greater depth of understanding and enable you to get to grips with challenging and technical subjects.