Safety Management

We work very hard at Blue Mountain Adventure Centre (BMAC) to manage your safety during your visit with us. We know this is a prime consideration for many people booking an outdoor programme, and it is our top priority.

It is important to realise that the outdoors and activities carried out at BMAC contain risks that cannot be completely eliminated, and to successfully remove all risks would destroy the unique character that takes people into the outdoors. To manage the risks inherent in what we do, BMAC has a structured systems approach.

Our safety management system is extensive and is documented in a variety of handbooks at our site. The ingredients of our operational plan include:

• • comprehensive policies on all aspects of our operation including staff, equipment, activities and safety procedures
  • AMP’s and SOP’s for all activities
  • emergency procedures
  • instructor competencies
  • safety checks and logs of safety equipment

BMAC maintains a high standard in the selection of its staff. We employ people on the basis of their maturity, judgement, teaching and facilitation experience, technical skills and personal experience in the outdoors.

• • Staff hold a variety of qualifications pertinent to the various areas of BMAC’s operation. These include NZ Outdoor Instructors Association (NZOIA) awards in rockclimbing, abseiling, kayaking, mountaineering and bushcraft; NZ Rivers Association (NZRA) raft guiding qualifications, Project Adventure facilitation qualifications and a variety of NZ Qualifications Authority (NZQA) outdoor recreation standards. Qualifications vary between staff members.
  • Each staff member has logged experience in different outdoor pursuits on personal and professional levels.
  • All instructors hold current outdoor first aid certificates, a full driver’s license, and have risk and crisis management training.
  • They are great managers of people and are excellent role models.

Their training is regular and ongoing with an individualised training pathway. Staff have a professional development allowance and through a combination of in-house training, external courses and national assessments, they work towards annual goals that are mutually agreed. In addition, their work is monitored for quality control purposes.

We use a competency based approach to staffing programmes. Each instructor is assessed against instructor competencies to ensure they have the skills and experience for each of the activities they lead.

We only employ competent, versatile instructors, that are capable of working in a variety of situations, while making the best decisions for client safety, and facilitating the best outcomes for the programme.

We have an excellent safety record spanning over 30 years. We record all incidents no matter how minor and analyse these to ensure our policies and procedures are current with industry best practice. BMAC is accredited with AdventureMark—proof that industry safety standards are met or exceeded and that we demonstrate a commitment to safety and quality. In addition we are audited by the Salvation Army Health and Safety Department. In all cases we receive excellent feedback on our systems.